Xj  X  :b  :r  .A.  :r  ^r 

PRINCETOX,  N.  J. 

The  Stephen  Collins  Donation. 

No.  Case,  Dn 
No.  Shelf,  c' 
No.  Book, 


BR  325  ,M3  1866 
Martyn,  W.  Carlos  1841-191 
The  life  and  times  of  Mart; 
Luther 


THE 


LIFE  AND  TIMES 


OF 


MARTIN  LUTHER. 


BY 


W.  CARLOS  MARTYN, 


AUTHOE  OF  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF  JOHN  MILTON. 


-v\A^G\- 


PUBLISIIED   BY  THE 
AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY, 

150  NASSAU-STREET,    NEW  YOEK. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1806,  by 
tiie  American  Tract  Society,  in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District 
Court  of  the  Southern  District  of  the  State  of  New  York. 


y 


PREFACE. 


The  object  in  the  compilation  of  these  pages 
has  been  twofold.  An  effort  has  been  made  to 
combine  in  some  sort  a  biography  of  Luther,  and 
a  history  concise  yet  clear  of  that  remarkable  Ref- 
ormation which  took  its  rise,  under  God,  through 
his  instrumentahty ;  so  that  the  most  unlettered 
reader  might  get  from  this  volume  at  once  an  ac- 
curate personal  view  of  Luther,  and  a  clear  idea  of 
the  grounds  upon  which  the  Reformation  was  based, 
together  with  its  salient  characteristics  and  its  most 
famous  historical  personages. 

The  biography  of  Luther  is  in  truth  a  history 
of  his  age,  so  wide-spread  were  his  connections,  so 
universal  was  his  influence.  Yet,  singularly  enough, 
most  of  his  biographers  have  traced  his  life  chiefly 
and  intentionally  fi'om  a  personal  stand-point. 
These  works  are  therefore  fragmentary,  as  witness 
the  lives  by  Michel^t  and  Meurer. 

In  turning  to  ecclesiastical  history,  it  is  found 
that  minute  personal  biography  is  not  within  its 
sphere.  Those  interesting  incidents,  those  lifelike 
personal  trifles  which  are  the  key  to  character,  and 
which  constitute  the  essence  of  biography,  are  nec- 
essarily slighted.  The  careful  and  judicious  muse 
of  history  shows  us  her  chosen  children  only  on  gala 
days,  when  dressed  in  the  garb  of  great  and  excep- 
tional occasions.  How  does  this  hero  demean  him- 
self at  his  own  hearthstone?    How  does  he  conduct 


4:  PEEFACE. 

himself  in  the  ordinary  walks  of  life?  To  these 
questions  she  will  not  stoop  to  reply. 

Tims  it  happens  that  the  most  graphic  histori- 
ans of  the  Keformation  necessarily  merge  Luther's 
grand  individualit}'  in  the  absorbing  sea  of  general 
events. 

In  this  volume  careful  attention  has  been  paid 
to  what  has  been  termed  distinctively  the  jjersonal 
side  of  Luther's  character,  and  also  to  the  historical 
side:  he  is  here  presented  as  the  reformer,  and  as 
the  man. 

In  the  execution  of  this  plan,  liberal  use  has  been 
made  of  all  the  available  material :  whatever  tended 
to  improve  and  animate  the  book  has  been  freely, 
yet  it  is  hoped  discriminatingly  levied  upon;  the 
aim  being  not  the  utmost  possible  originality,  but 
the  utmost  possible  completeness  and  interest. 

The  story  of  Luther's  life,  owing  to  the  abun- 
dance of  material  out  of  which  the  narrative  may  be 
constructed,  is  mainly  a  labor  of  editorial  research. 
The  loving  pens  of  his  contemporaneous  disciples 
gathered  up  with  reverent  care  every  thing  that  he 
said  and  did,  the  minutest  trifles  of  his  daily  life ; 
and  succeeding  generations  have  embodied  these  in 
a  thousand  pages  of  heterogeneous  biography. 

By  a  judicious  arrangement  of  these  records, 
Luther  may  be  made  to  relate  Luther.  AVherever 
use  could  be  made  of  his  own  picturesque  narrations 
of  important  phases  of  his  career,  these  have  been 
selected,  and  care  has  been  exercised  not  to  inter- 
rupt the  authoritative  grandeur  of  his  speech. 

Usually  where  the  Homan  and  the  Protestant 
authorities  are  in  essential  agreement,  the  Koman 
writers  have  had  the  preference  in  the  marginal 


PREFACE.  h 

citations,  for  obvious  reasons ;  and  no  statement  of 
fact  which  has  ever  been  questioned,  has  been  un- 
reservedly made  in  this  vokime,  without  a  prior 
close  scrutiny  in  the  light  of  impartial  history. 

Not  an  ideal  Luther,  but  Luther  as  he  was, 
frank,  homely,  resolute,  vehement,  statesmanlike, 
grand,  yet  marred  by  faults,  human  in  his  errors,  is 
the  Luther  of  this  book.  The  life  he  dared  to  hve, 
surely  we  should  not  fear  to  depict. 

The  first  portion  of  Luther's  life  abounds  in 
striking  historic  pictures,  and  is  replete  with  singu- 
lar fascination.  It  marches  on  from  his  entrance 
into  the  Erfurth  cloister,  through  the  stormy  phases 
of  the  initiatory  days  of  the  Reformation,  up  to  the 
confession  of  faith  at  Augsburg,  with  the  grandeur 
of  an  ejDic  poem. 

His  latter  years  are  necessarily  more  prosaic. 
Standing  on  -the  table-land  of  the  Reformation,  he 
was  largely  employed  in  the  discussion  of  mooted 
points  of  the  new  faith,  and  in  settling  the  discipline 
of  the  reformed  church  —  an  important  work  no 
doubt,  but  not  of  general  interest ;  nor  is  it  neces- 
sary to  folloAV  him  minutely  into  the  field  of  polemics. 

This  portion  of  Luther's  life  has  therefore  been 
somewhat  abridged,  while  care  has  been  taken  to 
exclude  from  the  volume  every  thing  of  a  question- 
able or  denominational  character.  Like  Milton, 
Martin  Luther  belongs  to  Christendom  at  large, 
nor  can  any  single  sect  or  country  be  permitted  to 
appropriate  him. 

The  amount  of  labor  necessitated  by  this  work 
has  been  great.  The  authorities,  English,  German, 
and  French,  consulted,  comjoared,  and  cited,  have 
been  unusually  numerous  and  diverse.      Attention 


6  PREFACE. 

is  called  to  tlie  marginal  portion  of  the  book;  at 
tlie  same  time  it  is  lioj)ecl  that  any  iuacciivacies 
which  may  inadvertently  have  crept  into  it,  may  be 
pardoned  in  view  of  the  extent  of  ground  covered, 
and  the  labor  undergone. 

This  has  been  a  labor  of  love.  A  profound  re- 
spect for  the  life  and  influence  of  Martin  Luther, 
certainl}^  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  men  known 
to  history,  and  a  firm  belief  that  no  one  since  apos- 
tolic days  has  been  entitled  to  greater  and  more 
general  reverence — these  are  the  feelings  which 
have  dictated  the  compilation  of  this  biography; 
and  it  is  now  given  to  the  public  in  the  earnest  hope 
that  it  may  serve  to  broaden  the  posthumous  fame 
of  its  illustrious  subject,  and  to  interest  hearts  now 
untouched  in  the  gkand  cause  for  which  he  labored, 
for  which  he  suffered,  and  for  which  he  was  content, 
if  need  were,  to  die. 

Luther  was  the  restorer  of  liberty  to  the  ages 
which  followed  his  era.  He  signed  his  name  to 
the  great  revolution  which  legalized  the  right  of 
fi'ee  examination.  "To  him,"  says  Michelet,  "it  is 
in  great  measure  owing,  that  we  of  the  present  day 
exercise  in  its  plenitude  the  sovereignty  of  individ- 
ual reason,  that  first  great  right  of  the  human  un- 
derstanding to  which  all  others  are  annexed,  with- 
out which  all  others  are  naught.  We  cannot  think, 
speak,  write,  read  for  a  single  moment  without 
gratefully  recalling  to  mind  this  enormous  benefit 
of  intellectual  enfranchisement.  The  very  lines  I 
liere  trace,  to  vvdiom  do  I  owe  it  that  I  am  able  to 
send  them  forth,  if  not  to  the  liberator  of  modern 
thought?" 

New  York,  1866. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 


The  nature  of  Christianitj' — The  Eoman  domination— A  general 
view  of  the  Keformation — Liither's  birth — His  ancestiy — His 
fixther — His  mother— Their  iioverty — Their  severity — Luther's 
precocity — Is  sent  to  school— Early  studies — His  dcjiarture  for 
the  Franciscan  academy  at  Magdeburg — Leaves  Magdeburg  for 
the  free-school  of  Eisenach — Supports  himself  by  singing  in  the 
streets — The  Cotta  family— Luther's  pleasant  residence  -with 
them— His  rapid  progress  in  his  studies — His  love  for  the  arts — 
Music — His  tutor  Trebonius — He  is  sent  in  his  eighteenth  year 
to  the  university  at  Erfurth - 21 

CHAPTER  11. 

Luther  at  Erfurth— Course  of  study— Faculty  of  the  University — 
Devotes  himself  to  the  study  of  the  civil  law — His  dislike  of 
the  profession  of  the  law — Preference  for  the  belles-lettres- 
Youthful  compositions — His  Ija-ical  taste  and  talent — Love  for 
the  amusements  of  German  student  life— Luther  in  the  Erfurth 
library— Discovery  of  the  Latin  Bible— His  speedy  preference 
for  it  above  aU  other  books— The  story  of  Hannah  and  Samuel — 
His  sickness — The  old  priest — The  assassination  of  one  of  his 
college  friends — Painful  queries — Luther  in  the  thunder-storm — 
His  vow — Deteimines  to  enter  the  cloister — Last  evening  of 
his  layman  life— Enters  the  Augustine  monastery  at  Erfurth 
in  Julj',  1505  - - 35 

CHAPTER  III. 

European  ecclesiasticism  at  the  commencement  of  the  sixteenth 
century — The  Pioman  see— Its  origin— Usurpations— Gradual- 
ly assumes  both  spiritual  and  temporal  sovereignty — Conse- 
quent abuses  and  comiptions— Scandalous  condition  of  the 
church  at  the  period  of  Luther's  entrance  into  the  cloister— 


S  CONTENTS. 

The  Paganism  of  Christianity — Testimony  of  Myconius — The 
rural  districts — Licentiousness  of  the  priesthood — Italy — The 
infamoiis  dynasty  of  pontiffs — Alexander  Borgia — Pius  III. — 
Julius  II. — The  college  of  Cardinals — State  of  learning — Con- 
tempt entertained  for  sacred  literature — Greek  and  Hebrew 
placed  under  the  ban — A  savanfs  opinion  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment— The  boasted  unity  of  the  Eoman  faith^Eemarks  -  -     42 

CHAPTEE  IV. 

Luther's  first  morning  in  the  monastery — Acquaints  his  father 
with  his  assumption  of  the  monkish  gown — Letter  to  his  Erfurth 
friends — His  rigid  seclusion— Hubbub  in  the  University — The 
cloister  besieged  by  Luther's  student  friends- — Refuses  to  see 
them — His  father's  disappointment  and  anger — Luther's  mo- 
tives in  becoming  a  monk — His  ignorance  of  the  papal  corrup- 
tions— His  life  in  the  cloister — Gala  days — Peculiar  hardships 
and  trials  of  his  novitiate — Monastic  drudgery — His  rescue  from 
it — Dr.  Staiipitz,  vicar-general  of  the  Augustine  order — Sketch 
of  his  career — Staiipitz's  admiration  for  Luther — His  advice  to 
the  young  recluse — John  Luther's  final  consent  to  his  son's 
adoption  of  an  ecclesiastical  career — Liither's  ordination  as  a 
priest,  in  1507 — The  ceremony — Incidents — Luther's  religious 
state — His  depressing  peri:)lexities  and  temptations — Staupitz's 
wise  counsels — Liither  awakes  to  a  knowledge  of  his  sinfulness — 
His  mental  struggles — Gives  himself  up  to  the  full  rigors  of 
asceticism — Insufficiency  of  the  Roman  formulas  prescribed  for 
penitents  to  jdeld  him  relief — Justification  by  faith — His  ad- 
herence to  the  minutest  trifles  of  the  monastic  disciioline — He 
perceives  the  worthlessness  of  earthly  help,  and  turns  to  God 
for  consolation — Reflections  - - - -    53 

CHAPTER  V. 

Establishment  of  the  University  of  Wittemberg — Frederick  of  Sax- 
ony— He  in-sdtes  Luther  to  take  the  chair  of  philosophy  at"\Vit- 
temberg — Luther's  acceptance — Completeness  of  his  theologi- 
cal training — He  still  keeps  up  the  rigors  of  his  cloister — Devo- 
tion to  study — The  degree  of  Baccalaureus  Tanquam  ad  Bihlia 
conferred  on  him  in  1509 — Attacks  scholastic  theology — Sensa- 
tion produced  thereby — ]\Iillerstadt's  opinion  —  Luther  sum- 
moned by  Sti^ijpitz  to  enter  the  pulpit — His  reluctance — Final 
consent — The  old  wooden  chaj^el  at  Wittemberg — Luther  as  a 
preacher — His  oratory — Contemporaneous  testimony  —  Testi- 
mony of  the  Jesiiit  historians— Tlcmarks 70 


CONTENTS.  y 

CHAPTEE  VI. 

Luther's  agony  of  soul — I.s  dispatched  to  Rome  in  1510 — His 
.ecstacy — Rome  in  the  sixteenth  centuiy — The  convent  of  the 
Benedictines — Lnther's  haste  to  reach  the  Eternal  City — The 
•  proverb  about  St.  John's  Eve — Sickness  at  Bologna — The  words 
of  St.  Paul — Luther's  arrival  at  Rome — His  salutation  of  the 
seven-hilled  city — His  siiperstition— Pope  Julius  II. — Occupa- 
tions of  the  pontifical  court — Attractions  of  the  ancient  ruins — 
The  Christian  remains — Profligacy  of  the  Roman  clergy — Their 
manner  of  celebrating  the  Mass — Luther  at  supper  with  the 
prelates — The  indecent  conversation — Hiitten's  opinion  of  the 
Roman  Trinity — Luther  on  Pilate's  staircase — Tlie  just  shall  live 
by  faith — Is  horrified  by  the  immorality  of  the  Roman  Gol- 
gotha— The  saying  of  Machiavelli — Luther  qiiits  Rome  sadden- 
ed and  shocked — The  return  to  Wittemberg — Good  results  of 
the  tour 80 

CHAPTEE  VII. 

' '  The  revival  of  learning  " — Its  influence  upon  the  Reformation — The 
omnipotence  of  the  Papacy  during  "the  dark  ages" — Dante — 
Petrarch — The  first  gleam  of  light — John  of  Ravenna — Chryso- 
laras — Influence  of  eastern  learning  upon  the  west  of  Eiirope — 
The  undue  importance  often  ascribed  to  the  "revival  of  learn- 
ing"— Its  insufficiency  to  have  produced  unaided  the  Reforma- 
tion— The  iufidehty  of  medifeval  learning — The  Papal  court  of 
Julian  de  Medici — La  Bella  Rorenze  —  Conclusions  arrived  at 
fi-om  a  survey  of  the  revival  of  letters - -     91 

CHAPTEE  Vin. 

Luther  has  recourse  to  the  Scriptures  for  consolation — Continues 
his  assaults  upon  the  ethics  of  Aquinas  and  Aiistotle — Is  made 
a  Doctor  of  Divinity— Carl stadt— The  overthrow  of  the  scholas- 
ticism at  "Wittemberg — Luther's  correspondence — Becomes  ac- 
quainted with  Sjjalatin — The  doctrine  of  grace 100 

CHAPTEE  IX. 

Luther  appointed  Vicar-general  of  his  order  pro  tempore— His  vis- 
itation of  the  Augustine  convents  in  1516— Their  disorders- 
Luther  preaches  justification  by  faith  and  grace  in  the  Monas- 
teries— Good  results — Retiirn  to  Wittemberg— His  letter  to 
John  Lange — Bisuin6  of"  his  duties  — The  plagiie  at  Wittem- 
\,Qxg — Luther's  calm  courage — Determines  to  remain  at  his 
1* 


10  CONTENTS. 

post — Proposition  at  the  Electoral  court  to  promote  Staupitz 
to  a  Bishopric — Luther's  opposition  to  the  scheme — George, 
Duke  of  Saxony — Luther  invited  to  preach  before  him  at  Dres- 
den— George's  anger — Jerome  Emser — The  supper — Luther's 
controversy  with,  the  Leipsic  schoolmen — His  victory — Ketums 
to  Wittemberg  rejoicing --  109 

CHAPTER  X. 

Luther's  religious  state  in  1516^Still  adheres  to  the  Eoman  disci- 
pline— Eemarks — Tranquil  slumber  of  the  papacy — The  pon- 
tificate of  Leo  X. — Its  character — Leo's  extravagance — His 
schemes  for  filling  his  empty  exchequer — St.  Peter's — Sale  of 
indulgences  for  the  purpose  of  completing  that  Cathedral — 
The  origin  and  nature  of  indulgences — The  farming  of  the  in- 
dulgences in  Germany — Albert  of  Mentz — Tetzel  appointed 
general  agent  for  the  sale  of  the  German  indulgences — His 
blasphemoiis  and  abandoned  character — His  pomp — His  mode 
of  procedure — His  hideous  doctrines— His  diplomas — His  prop- 
ositions— Tetzel  and  the  emperor  Maximilian 117 

CHAPTER  XI. 

Luther  first  hears  of  Tetzel  at  Grimma — Tetzel's  arrival  at  Juter- 
bock  near  Wittemberg  in  1517 — Luthef  in  the  confessional — 
Kefuses  to  absolve  penitents  on  the  simple  presentation  of 
Tetzel's  dii^lomas,  without  repentance — Tetzel's  rage  thereat — 
Luther  is  informed  of  the  impious  character  of  Tetzel's  doc- 
tiines^Preaches  against  reliance  upon  the  indulgences  for  sal- 
vation— The  elector's  singular  dream — Luther  composes  his 
propositions — Nails  them  to  the  church  door  at  Wittemberg,  130 

CHAPTER  XII. 

The  ninety-five  theses — Their  character — Ignorance  of  Leo's  con- 
nection with  Tetzel  at  this  time — Esteems  himself  the  cham- 
pion of  the  insulted  Papacy — Has  no  thoughts  of  entering  into 
a  conflict  M-ith  the  Roman  see — Reluctance  -with  which  he  at- 
tacked the  indulgences — Fears  even  the  whisijered  re^Droach  of 
heresy - 138 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Luther's  letter  to  Albert  of  Mayence— The  Archbishop  vouchsafes 
him  no  rejily — Writes  Jerome  of  Brandenburg — Jerome's  mes- 
sage by  a  Carthusian  monk— Staupitz's  timidity— Luther  enters 


CONTENTS.  11 

into  the  controversy  without  any  definite  plan,  and  ignorant  of 
the  extent  to  which  it  will  lead  him — Sensation  produced  m 
Germany  by  the  publication  of  the  theses — Luther's  alarm  at 
their  success — His  timidity  vanishes  before  the  violent  assaults 
of  the  indulgence-mongers — The  reception  awarded  the  theses 
at  Pi-ankfort-on-the-Oder — Luther's  account  of  the  inception  of 
the  indulgence  controversy  — Tetzel's  response  to  Luther — 
Liither  learns  that  in  attacking  the  indulgences,  he  attacked 
Rome — His  astonishment — Excitement  throughout  Germany — 
Luther's  theses  have  the  sympathy  of  the  masses 146 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

The  Reception  awarded  Luther's  theses  by  the  learned  world — 
Their  effect  upon  the  two  foremost  thinkers  of  the  age — John 
Reuchlin — Sketch  of  his  life — Erasmus — His  biography — Char- 
acter and  mental  qualities — The  influence  of  Erasmus  upon  the 
Reformation — The  "Praise  of  Folly" — Other  works — Publica- 
tion of  the  Greek  Testament  at  Basle  in  1516 — Remarks  -  -  157 

CHAPTER  XV. 

The  University  of  Franldort — Wimpina — Gathering  of  the  moiiks — 
Tetzel's  theses  —  The  first  auto  da  fi  of  the  Reformation — 
John  Knipstrow — Tetzel  made  Doctor  of  Di\anity — Luther  once 
more  awakened  by  the  proceedings  at  Franlrfort— His  letter  to 
Spalatin  —  Fears  lest  he  should  involve  the  elector  in  the  con- 
troversy—  His  anxiety — The  difference  between  belief  and 
action — Luther  sees  his  duty — Reception  of  Tetzel's  theses  at 
Wittemberg— ylufo  da/^  of  the  Wittemberg  students — Luther's 
connection  with,  and  opinion  of  it — Luther  attacked  by  Pric- 
rias,  a  Roman  licenser — Character  of  his  pamphlet — "What  is 
the  sole  infallible  authority  for  Christians  ?"' — Luther's  reply  to 
Prierias — The  Roman  system  as  sketched  by  Prierias — The 
Christian  system  as  sketched  by  Luther — Observations  —  173 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Luther's  evangelical  knowledge — His  di'ead  of  schism^siugi;lar 
traits  of  his  character — Luther's  victory  over  Prierias — He  is  next 
opposed  by  Hochstraaten — Luther's  resijonse  to  that  Domini- 
can inquisitor  —  Eck  of  Ingolstadt  enters  the  arena  against 
Luther  —  Eck"s  character  —  He  publishes  the  "Obelisks" — 
Friendship  between  Eck  and  Luther  —  Luther's  sorrow  at 
Eck's  acrimonious  assault  upon  him — He  replies  by  the  com- 
position of  the  "Asteaisks" — Vain  nttemjjts  to  reconcile  Eck 


12  CONTENTS. 

and  Luther — Luther's  manifold  labors  at  this  time — His  sym- 
pathy for  the  people — Perceives  the  essential  democracy  of 
Christianity — Opposes  the  tendency  of  the  ecclesiasticism  of 
his  age  to  gravitate  towards  caste — His  popular  works  in  Ger- 
man— Luther  lays  the  foimdation  of  the  German  language — 
The  time  rulers  of  Christendom  —  Luther's  "Explanation  of 
the  Lord's  Prayer" — Sermon  at  Wittemberg  on  the  "Remission 
of  Sins" — Man  and  God  brought  face  to  face 187 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Convocation  of  the  Augustine  order  at  Heidelberg  in  1.518 — Liither 
summoned  to  attend  it — Determines  to  do  so — Intrigues  of  the 
monks — His  friends  advise  him  not  to  go  to  Heidelberg — The 
Elector  provides  him  with  letters  to  nobles  on  the  route — Sets 
out  for  Heidelberg  on  foot — Meeting  \vith  the  Elector's  Chancel- 
lor, Pfef&nger,  at  Juderbock — Tarry  at  Wurtzburg — Meeting 
with  Staupitz  and  Lange — Arrival  at  Heidelberg — Luther's  re- 
ception by  Wolfgang,  Duke  of  Bavaria — The  Augustine  chap- 
ter— Luther's  ' '  Paradoxes  " — Discussion  upon  them — Effect  of 
the  debate — Martin  Bucer — John  Brentz — Ehrhard  Sneff — 
Bucer's  interview  with  Luther — -"The seed  time  of  the  Palati- 
nate"— Fruits  of  the  Heidelberg  disputation — Luther's  joyous 
and  triumphant  return  to  Wittemberg 200 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Leo.  X. — His  opinion  of  the  German  troubles — Ltither's  opinion 
of  Leo  X. — He  publishes  his  explanations  of  the  theses — Char- 
acter of  that  pamphlet— Second  letter  to  Jerome  of  Branden- 
burg— Letter  to  the  Pope — Letter  to  Spalatin — Remarks  i;pon 
the  peculiarities  of  these  epistles — Lxither's  own  explanation  of 
them - 210 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

The  i^erfidy  of  Rome — Leo  -wTites  Staupitz — Raphael  of  Raveima's 
letter  to  the  Elector — Defection  of  Frederick — The  imperial 
diet  at  Augsburg — Alliance  between  Frederick  and  Pojie  Leo — 
Fredeiick's  declaration  of  sentiments  —  Luther's  citation  to 
Rome — Interference  of  his  friends — Liither  solicits  Spalatin  to 
use  his  influence  mth  the  Elector  to  have  his  cause  heard  in 
Germany — Frederick  assents — Leo's  accpiiescence — -The  Wit- 
temberg University — Maximilian — Cajetan  the  papal  Nuncio 
appointed  by  the  Pope  to  try  Luther— Leo's  brief  to  the  Le- 
gate— Luther's  indignation— Determines  to  face  Cajetan  --  227 


CONTENTS.  13 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Philip  Melancthon— Birth  and  jiarentage  —  Early  instniction  — 
Thirst  for  learning— His  genius — His  connection  with  Reuch- 
lin — Goes  to  Heidelberg  in  his  twelfth  year — Erasmus'  opinion 
of  hiin — Need  of  the  Wittemberg  University  for  a  professor  of 
ancient  languages — Reuchlin  recoumiends  his  young  relative 
Melancthon  to  Frederick — Melancthon's  journey  to  Wittem- 
berg—His  recei^tiou  at  Leipsic — At  Wittemberg — Luther's 
judgment — Melancthon  speedily  gains  the  confidence  and  admi- 
ration of  the  whole  university — His  influence  upon  the  schol- 
arship of  his  age— The  foundation  of  the  famous  friendshiij 
between  Liither  and  Melancthon — Contrast  between  them — 
The  brilhant  repixtatiou  of  the  Wittemberg  University  at  this 
time  - 237 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

Luther's  preparations  for  meeting  the  papal  Nuncio — His  courage — 
It  is  infectious — Staupitz's  unwonted  boldness — The  citation 
arrives — Luther's  friends  oppose  his  answering  it  in  person — 
His  resolution  to  do  so  unshakable — Staupitz's  timidity  returns- 
He  conjures  Luther  to  join  him  in  his  cloister  at  Salzburg — 
Luther  remains  undaunted — The  Count  of  Mansfeldt's  warn- 
ing— Luther  demands  of  Frederick  a  safe-conduct — Frederick 
refuses  this,  biit  provides  him  with  letters  of  recommendation 
to  nobles  on  the  route,  and  to  the  patricians  of  Augsburg — 
The  Elector's  shame  on  account  of  his  course  towards  Luther 
at  the  imperial  diet — -Luther  meets  him  at  Weimar — Preaches 
before  the  court  on  the  festival  of  St.  Michael — Luther  at  Nu- 
remberg— ^Wiuceslaus  Link — Scheurl,  Albrecht  Diirer — Depar- 
ture from  Nuremberg — Link  and  another  friend  accompany 
him — Arrival  at  Augsbiirg — An  intrepid  letter -  248 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Luther  at  Augsburg — Learns  of  Staupitz's  presence — Requests  the 
Vicar-general  to  visit  him — Delivers  the  Elector's  letters  to  the 
Augsburg  patricians — They  urge  him  to  apply  to  Maximilian 
for  a  safe  conduct,  and  meanwhile  not  to  see  the  Nuncio- 
Luther  complies  with  this  advice — His  first  day  in  Augsburg — 
His  second  day — Third  day — Receives  the  safe  conduct — Re- 
pairs to  the  Legate's  palace — Thomas  De  Vio — Luther's  recep- 
tion by  Cajetan — The  Legate's  confidence  of  an  easy  victory — 
Luther's  humility — First  words — ^Cajotau's  requisition — Luther's 


li  CONTENTS. 

demand — Sensation — The  Legate's  harangue — The  two  propo. 
sitions — Luther's  firm  reliance  upon  the  Scriiitures — Eetraction 
the  Nuncio's  ultinudum  —  End  of  the  first  interview  ^ — Mutual 
impressions — Interview  with  Staupitz  —  Advised  to  commit  his 
answers  to  writing — Staupitz  releases  him  from  his  monastic 
obligations -- - 255 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Luther  waited  upon  by  his  Augsbirrg  friends — AiTival  of  two  en- 
voys from  the  Electoral  court — Second  interview  with  Cajetan — 
Luther's  declaration — The  Nuncio's  reply — Luther's  refusal  to 
retract  unconvinced — Cajetan's  volubility — Liither  requests 
permission  to  reply  in  writing — Reluctant  consent  of  the  Le- 
gate— End  of  the  second  interview — Third  conference — Lu- 
ther's protest— Discussion — Cajetan's  violence — Liither's  calm 
refusal  to  retract — His  angry  discussion — Cajetan's  interview 
with  Staupitz — Stauijitz  and  Luther — Luther  ^\Tites  Spalatin— 
Letter  to  Carlstadt — Staupitz,  Lange,  and  the  electoral  envoj^s 
quit  Augsburg — Luther's  first  letter  to  Cajetan— "Waiting — The 
second  letter — Appeal  to  the  Pope — Quits  Augsburg — The  jour- 
ney homeward — Popular  enthusiasm — Count  Albert  of  Mans- 
feldt— Reaches  Wittemberg 274 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Kage  of  the  oiit-nitted  Cartliual — The  Nuncio  to  Frederick — Fred- 
erick forwards  Cajetan's  letter  to  Luther — Luther  to  the  Elec- 
tor— The  Elector  to  Cajetan — Frederick's  instructions  to  Lu- 
ther— Luther's  joj' — His  employments — Popularity  of  his  ■writ- 
ings— Frobenius,  the  printer  of  Basle — Pubhcation  of  Luther's 
"Report  of  the  Augsburg  Conference" — Letter  to  Link — Inter- 
view -mth.  the  Elector  at  Lichtemberg — The  feeling  at  Rome — 
Cajetan's  disgrace — Movements  of  the  Papacj' — Leo's  blunder — 
Luther's  appeal  from  the  Tope  to  a  general  council — The  Pope 
conceals  his  anger  and  temporizes — Miltitz  appointed  Nuncio^ 
His  character — Departure  for  Germany — Miltitz  feels  the  pop- 
ular i^ulse — The  seventj'  papal  briefs — Miltitz  awakens  to  the 
herculean  character  of  his  task - 291 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

Miltitz  arrives  in  Saxony  in  1519 — Waits  upon  Spalatin — Spala- 
tin and  Miltitz — Tetzel  —  Luther  and  Miltitz  —  The  golden 
rose  and  the  Elector — Miltitz  baffled — Interview  between  Lu- 


CONTENTS.  15 

ther  and  Miltitz  at  Altenbiirg — The  Nuncio's  smiles  and 
caresses — Articles  of  agreement — Luther  ai:)prizes  the  Elector 
of  the  condition  of  affairs — Miltitz's  ecstasy — The  Nuncio's  sup- 
per— Home  and  the  Eeformation  kiss  for  the  last  time — The 
dangers  of  Saxon  hospitality — Miltitz  entrajiped — The  Nuncio 
repairs  to  Leipsic  —  Miltitz  and  Tetzel  —  Tetzel's  downfall — 
Luther  pities  and  writes  him  —  Luther's  second  letter  to  the 
Pope — Various  criticisms  xipon  it — Milner's  remarks — D'Au- 
bigne's  comments - 303 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Death  of  the  German  emperor — Intrigues  of  the  Eoman  court — 
Frederick  of  Saxony  appointed  to  administer  the  empire  during 
the  interregnum — The  sky  brightens — -Liither's  occuj^ations — 
The  papal  decretals — Luther  on  separation  from  Rome — Flour- 
ishing condition  of  the  Wittemberg  University — Miltitz  and 
Cajetan  at  Treves — They  i^lot  mischief — The  Archbishoi^-elec- 
tor  of  Treves — Leo  appoints  him  to  arbitrate  in  Luther's  af- 
fair—  He  postpones  the  inquiry  to  the  convocation  of  the 
diet  at  Worms  in  1521 — Eck  of  Ingolstadt  once  more— His 
controversy  with  Carlstadt — Challenges  Carlstadt  and  Luther  to 
debate  with  him — Eck's  theses  on  the  supremacy  of  the  Poj^e — 
Luther's  opposing  theses — Letters — A  disputation  ajipointed  to 
be  held  at  Leipsic — Duke  George's  refusal  to  i^ermit  Luther  to 
debate — Eck  and  Carlstadt  alone  to  contend  —  Luther's  cha- 
grin— Preparations  for  the  verbal  tournament — The  counsel  of 
Erasmus - 314 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Wittemberg  in  a  ferment — Uniqxie  letter  from  Luther  to  the  Elec- 
tor— The  Wittembergers  en  route  for  Leipsic — Their  reception — ■ 
Eck  at  Leipsic — Luther  and  Eck — Eck  obtains  permission  for 
Luther  to  debate — Preliminary  difficulties — Commencement  of 
the  disputation — Masellanus — Carlstadt's  proposition— His  abil- 
ity as  a  disputant — Melancthon  aids  him — Luther's  opinion  of 
the  contest  between  Eck  and  Carlstadt — Luther  and  Eck  enter 
the  lists — The  articles  of  controversy — Luther's  oratorical  skill — 
His  weak  points — Popish  errors — His  own  statement — Both 
sides  claim  the  victory  —  Eck's  real  opinion — Testimony  of 
Masellanus — His  sketch  of  the  three  disjiutants — Luther  quits 
Leipsic — Carlstadt  follows  him — Eck's  boasting — Luther's  satir- 
ical account  of  the  disputation — Effects  of  the  debate — Melanc- 
thon's  resum6 322 


16  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Eck  and  Melancthou — Eck  -^Tites  the  Elector — Frederick's  re- 
sponse— Luther's  account  of  the  LeiiDsic  controversy — Luther 
and  Emser — Electoral  diet  at  Frankfort — The  three  competitors 
for  the  Germanic  crown- — The  diet  nrge  it  upon  Frederick's 
acceptance — His  refusal — Advises  the  selection  of  Charles  of 
Spain — Hypocritical  course  of  the  Eoman  court — The  election 
of  Charles — Keflections  upon  this  choice — Luther's  letter  to  the 
new  emperor — The  universities  of  Cologne  and  Louvain — At- 
tempt to  assassinate  Luther — Luther's  renunciation  of  Kome — 
Commotion— Kally  of  the  German  nobles  to  his  side — Abstemi- 
us — Hedio — Effect  of  this  sjnnpathy  upon  Luther — Address 
to  the  emperor  and  the  German  nobility — Sensation  produced 
by  it — Eumors  of  Eck's  proceedings  at  Eome — Luther's  book 
on  the  "  Babj'lonish  Captivity  " — Its  effect — Demand  for  Luther's 
\vi-itings- - 339 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

The  feeling  at  Eome — Leo's  bull  of  excommunication — Eck  ap- 
pointed to  carry  it  into  Germany — His  cold  and  sullen  recep- 
tion— Eck  on  the  route — Eck  at  Leipsic — Conduct  of  the  Leip- 
sickers — Eck's  teiTor — His  flight  by  night — Eck  at  Erfurth — 
The  joke  of  the  Erfurth  students — Luther's  -wdtticism — Excite- 
ment at  Wittemberg — Luther's  auto  da  fe — The  excommuni- 
cated monk  excommimicates  the  Pope — Luther's  lecture-room — 
The  voices  of  Carlstadt  and  Mclancthon — Other  chamj^ions — 
Demands  for  "peace" — Luther's  lack  of  clerical  support — His 
remarks  upon  it — He  definitively  snaps  the  chain  that  binds 
him  to  the  pontifical  throne — Eeflections 362 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

Luther  on  the  table-land  of  the  Eeformation — Appeals  to  the  peo- 
ple for  support — Zeal  of  the  booksellers  and  printers — The 
complaint  of  Cocblajus — The  nobles  and  the  towns — Freder- 
ick's anxiety — Summons  Erasmus  to  meet  him — Erasmus'  opin- 
ion of  Liither — The  axioms — Effect  of  the  interview  with  Eras, 
nius  npon  Frederick  —  Anecdotes — Luther's  response  to  the 
Papal  bull — Eemarks  upon  Luther's  rhetorical  severity — His 
rationale  of  reform — Maimbourg's  testimony 374 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Convocation  of  the  diet  of  Worms — Its  nature — Momentous  ques- 
tions at  issue — Eeligion — The  Eoman  programme — Charles  in  a 


CONTENTS.  17 

quandaiy — Papal  manoGuvres — The  Elector's  firmness — Luther 
cited  to  appear  before  the  diet — Luther  sets  out  for  Worms — 
Grief  of  his  friends — Unhappy  presages— Luther  at  Leipsic — 
At  Erfurth— An  incident — At  Eisenach— At  Fraukfort-on-the- 
Maine — The  picture  of  Savonarola — Liither  to  Spalatiu — At 
Opi:)enheim — AtPfiffingheim — The  "reformer's  elm" — In  sight 
of  Worms — Lxither's  hj'mu — Luther  at  Worms — Agitation — The 
diet — The  Elector's  and  Luther's  ' '  Appeal  to  the  German  Nobili- 
ty"— Luther's  narrative  of  his  presentation  to  the  diet — Quits 
Worms — Kemarks  upon  his  conduct  at  Worms — Audin's  picture 
of  Luther  before  the  diet 383 

CHAPTER  XXXII. 

After  the  diet — The  Elector — The  Papal  Legate — Charles  V.  at  the 
cathedral  of  Worms — the  Act  of  Outlawi-y — Under  the  bair  of 
the  church  and  the  empire — "The  end  of  the  tragedy" — Luther 
en  route  for  Wittemberg — Plans  for  his  safety — Liither  writes 
the  emperor  and  the  states — Dismisses  Sturm,  the  Herald — ' '  The 
Devil  under  a  Monk's  Hood  "■ — Luther  at  Herschfeldt — At  Eise- 
nach— The  capture — Luther  inlibertate  Cliristiana -  414 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Luther  in  the  Wartburg — Commotion  in  Germany — First  weeks  of 
Luther's  confinement — Visitors — Depression — Liither's  corre- 
spondence— His  literary  actiA-ity — Conflicts  ■nith  Satan — The 
Ai'chbishop  of  Maj^ence  —  The  indulgence-mongers  again  at 
work — Luther's  indignation — "The  New  Idol  of  Halle" — Panic 
at  the  Electoral  court — Spalatin's  letter — Luther's  response — 
Luther's  letter  to  the  Archbishop — The  Archbishop's  reply — 
Fabricius  Capito — Luther  to  Capito— The  confessional — Monk- 
ish celibacy— Luther's  error — His  conviction  of  it 422 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Public  events — Retention  by  the  reformed  church  of  Popish  cere- 
monials— Proposed  changes  in  the  Eitual — The  Augustine  mon- 
astery at  Erfurth — The  deputies — The  Elector — Carlstadt's  im- 
pradence — The  explosion — Liither's  brief  visit  at  Wittemberg — 
Beturns  to  the  Wartburg — The  "New  Prophets" — The  rise  of 
fanaticism — The  image-breakers — -Carlstadt  heads  them — Lu- 
ther's urgent  counsel  unheeded — Determines  to  leave  the  Wart- 
burg and  return  openly  to  Wittemberg — An  episode — Luther 


18  CONTENTS. 

apprizes  the  Elector  of  wliat  he  has  done — Frederick  counsels 
a  return  to  the  Wartburg — Liither's  refusal — Keasons — he  reen- 
ters Witteinberg — Tranquillity  restored --  437 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

Luther  completes  his  translation  of  the  New  Testament — Its  pub- 
lication in  1522 — Great  gain  thereby  to  the  Reformation — Price 
of  the  Testament— Immense  number  of  editions  sold — Stj'le  of 
the  translation — Luther  commences  the  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament  into  German — The  German  Bible — Its  enthusiastic 
recei^tion  by  the  people — The  Roman  version — Death  of  Leo 
X. — Eoman  satires — Pope  Adrian  VI. — Ominous  reception  of 
the  new  Pontiff — Incidents — Adrian's  letter  to  the  Elector — 
Diet  at  Nuremberg — Its  decision— Joy  of  the  reformers — Henry 
VIII.  of  England  attacks  Luther — The  democracy  of  letters — 
Luther's  terrible  reply — Henry's  chagrin— A^ipeals  to  Duke 
George  of  Saxony  and  the  Elector — Frederick's  imperturbabil- 
ity— Result  of  the  rencontre 452 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Death  of  Adrian  VI. — Clement  VII. — Spread  of  the  Reformation — 
Activity  of  Rome — The  popish  league  of  Ratisbon— The  era  of 
persecution — Luther's  prophecy — His  controversy  with  Garl- 
stadt — Carlstadt's  fanaticism — Luther  at  Orlamund — Banish- 
ment of  Carlstadt — Luther's  connection  therewith — Remarks — 
Carlstadt's  after  course — Luther's  dejection — Attacked  by  Eras- 
mus— The  "Diatribe" — Luther's  pain— The  timidity  of  Eras- 
m^^s — Luther's  Titanic  labors — Incidents — Luther  on  popular 
education — On  the  importance  of  studying  the  languages  and 
literatiu'e — Luther's  wisdom — Ceases  to  wear  the  monkish  cos- 
tume— Known  only  by  his  academic  distinctions — The  convent 
of  Nimptisch  —  The  nine  nuns — Catherine  Van  Bora — Lu- 
ther's marriage — Profound  sensation — Luther's  domestic  happi- 
ness   - - 462 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

The  peasants'  war — Condition  of  the  serfs — Singular  moderation 
of  the  insurgents  at  the  outset — The  twelve  Articles — Liither 
called  upon  to  arbitrate  between  the  peasants  and  the  lords — ■ 
Accepts  the  position — His  sympathy  for  the  peasants — His  ad- 
dress to  the  princes  and  the  insurgents — Luther's  statesman- 
ship— His  counsel  proves  vain — Infatuation  of  the  peasants — 


CONTENTS.  19 

The  insurrection  becomes  fanaticizcd — Lutlier  urges  the  princes 
to  take  the  field— Rally  of  the  princes — Battle  of  Frankeuhau- 
sen — Disastrous  end  of  the  insurrection — Effect  of  the  outbreak 
upon  Luther's  mind^Death  of  the  Elector  Frederick  —  His 
character — The  new  Elector— Danger — Liither's  faith — Luther's 
reply  to  Erasmus'  "Diatribe" — "i>e  Servo  Arhiirio" — Effect  of 
the  pamphlet  upon  Erasmus 482 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

Luther's  domestic  character — His  poverty — A  whim — Luther  as 
a  "turner" — As  a  gardener — His  happiness — Little  Johnny — 
The  plague — Luther's  kindness — His  sickness — Increase  of  his 
family — Death  of  his  daughter — Luther's  grief — German  hos- 
pitality—Luther's ' '  Table-talk  " — Marriage— The  Trinity— The 
fathers — Antichrist — ^Painting — Schools — Music — Printing — 
Sermons — Reflections - 493 

CHAPTER  XXXIX. 

Romish  league  against  the  Protestant  princes — Luther's  pamphlet 
against  the  Turks — Success  of  the  Reformation— The  treaty 
of  Cambria— Diet  of  Si:)ires — The  Protestants — The  Marburg 
convention — Controversy  between  Luther  and  Zwiugle — Its 
unhappy  termination— The  German  phlegm — The  diet  of  Augs- 
burg— Luther  at  Coburg — The  Confession  of  Augsburg — Me- 
lancthon — Bayer  reads  the  Confession — Its  effect— Charles'  re- 
ception of  it -- - 504 

CHAPTER  XL. 

Luther's  employments  at  Coburg — Melancthon's  timidity — Luther's 
rebuke — Letters — Luther's  exclamation  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
diet — The  emperor's  missive  to  the  jiope  —  Meetings  of  the 
Protestants  at  Schmalkald — The  Piptestant  league — The  accu- 
sation— Luther's  response  —  The  anonymous  Dresden  pam- 
phlet— Luther's  tract — Death  of  Luther's  flxther — Luther's  let- 
ters thereon — Death  of  his  mother — Close  of  Luther's  connection 
with  i^ublic  affairs — Remarks — Luther  devotes  himself  to  expo- 
sitions of  the  Protestant  tenets  —  Discipline  of  the  Reforma- 
tion— Contrast  between  the  Roman  and  the  reformed  churches — • 
Luther's  energy — Decrease  of  his  bodily  strength — Anticipa- 
tions of  death — Death  of  Erasmus — Death  of.  Dulce  George  of 
Saxony — Luther  at  Leipsic— Death  of  Luther's  favorite  daugh- 
ter Magdalen — Severity  of  the  blow — His  lack  of  interest  in  all 


21  CONTENTS. 

attempts  at  reconciliation  with  Rome  —  Reasons — His  con"e- 
sj^ondence — The  Coi;ncil  of  Trent — Luther's  opinion  of  it — 
His  acumen — Increase  of  his  Christian  charity — Accommoda- 
tion of  his  controversy  with  the  Sacramentaidans  —  Luther's 
attachment  to  home — His  generosity — An  instance — Luther's 
fireside  friends — A  seat  at  his  table  deemed  a  great  distinc- 
tion^Increase  of  his  infirmities — Letter  to  Amsdorff — A  prof)h- 
ecy — His  continued  activity - 519 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

Quarrel  between  the  Counts  of  Mansfeldt— Luther  summoned  to 
Eisenach  to  act  as  arbiter — His  letter  to  Count  Albert — Sets  out 
for  Eisenach — His  arrival — Cordial  greeting — Letters  to  his 
wife — The  Counts  reconciled — Luther's  activity  at  Eisenach — 
His  last  sickness  —  Alarm  of  his  friends — His  sufferings — His 
consideration — His  prayer — His  final  words^Last  moments — 
Triumphant  Christian  death — The  funeral — Summaiy  of  the 
character  of  Martin  Luther — Conclusion 539 


THE 

LIFE  AND  TIMES 


OF 


MARTIN  LUTlIEll. 


CHAPTER   I. 

"Give  me,"  said  Arcliimedes,  "a  point  without 
tlie  world,  and  I  will  move  tlie  earth  from  its 
poles."  It  has  been  well  said  by  D'Aubigne,  that 
"  true  Christianity  is  this  point,  which  raises  the 
heart  of  man  from  its  double  pivot  of  selfishness 
and  sensuality,  and  which  will  one  day  turn  the 
whole  world  from  its  evil  ways,  and  make  it  revolve 
on  a  new  axis  of  righteousness."* 

Some  men  run  up  and  down  eagerly  demanding 
evidence  of  the  divine  origin  of  Christianity,  This 
is  the  sufficient  proof — its  imperishahiUfy.  All  the 
other  creeds  which  have  domineered  over  the  intel- 
lects or  the  hearts  of  men  have  eventually  succumb- 
ed either  to  outward  force  or  to  internal  corruption, 
and  crumbled  to  pieces.     "  The  national  religions 

*  D'Aiibigue's  Hist,  of  tho  Eeformatioii,  Vol.  1,  i^reface. 


22  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

which  had  satisfied  the  parents,  uo  longer  proved 
sufficient  for  their  children.  The  new  generations 
could  not  repose  contented  within  the  ancient  forms. 
The  gods  of  every  nation,  when  transported  to  Eome, 
there  lost  their  oracles,  as  the  nations  themselves 
had  lost  their  liberty.  Brought  face  to  face  in  the 
capital,  they  had  destroyed  each  other,  and  their 
divinity  had  vanished.""'^ 

From  the  grey  dawn  of  history,  when  Cambyses 
came  down  from  Persia  and  thundered  across  Egypt, 
treading  out  beneath  his  horses'  hoofs  the  old  eccle- 
siasticism  which  built  and  inscribed  the  pyramids, 
to  that  monstrous  birth,  the  "  religion  of  reason," 
with  which  the  infidel  philosophers  of  the  French 
Bevolution  sought  to  replace  Christianity,  all  creeds 
which  have  owed  their  inception  to  the  human  in- 
tellect, to  the  wit  of  laymen  or  of  priests,  have  been 
eventually  overthrown  by  the  scornful  execrations 
of  their  former  dupes. 

Christianity  alone  has  stood  all  tests,  firm  as  that 
"Eock  of  ages"  upon  which  it  is  based. 

"I  am  tired,"  said  Yoltaire,  "of  hearing  that 
twelve  men  established  Christianity.  I  will  show 
that  one  man  is  sufiicient  to  overthrow  it."  But  the 
rock  of  unbelief  with  which  the  haughty  scliolar 
meant  to  crush  religion,  God,  as  in  that  tradition  of 
the  Jewish  Talmud,  of  Og  king  of  Bashan,  hung 
about  his  own  neck,  and  fastened  it  there  for  ever. 

Christianity,  from  the  moment  when  Christ  began 
to  preach  it  on  the  plains  of  Palestine,  has  trium- 

*  D'Aubigne's  Hist,  of  the  Eeformation,  Vol.  1,  p.  1. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  23 

phantly  witlistood  tlie  assaults  of  heatlien  rage,  of 
priestly  intrigue,  of  worldly  ambition,  of  scholastic 
subtlety;  and  God  has  also  vouchsafed  it  sufficient 
inherent  power  to  cleanse  itself,  when  the  licentious- 
ness of  ecclesiastics  and  the  cunning  of  statecraft 
have  sought  to  transform  its  temple  into  a  den  of 
profligacy,  or  into  a  shelter  for  money-changers. 

"  Christianity  has  so  directly  for  its  object  the 
improvement  of  man's  nature,  that  to  conceal  any 
of  its  doctrines,  or  to  oppose,  under  the  pretence 
of  its  sanctions,  the  full  development  and  exercise 
of  reason,  is  to  resist  its  Author,  and  nullify  his 
mercy.  But  a  system  so  pure  and  luminous  as  that 
of  the  gospel  is  totally  adverse  to  the  deceits  and 
artihces  necessary  for  the  support  of  spiritual  pride 
or  ecclesiastical  ambition :  the  system  has  therefore 
to  be  modified  when  emploj'ed  for  such  purposes; 
and  that  this  may  be  done  securely,  every  eifort 
must  be  made  to  prevent  a  comparison  between  the 
ncAv  and  the  original  form  of  the  religion. 

"  The  domination  of  the  Homan  pontiffs  afford- 
ed, for  many  ages,  a  memorable  instance  of  power 
wholly  supported  by  these  means.  As  bishops  of 
one  of  the  most  ancient  provinces  of  the  Christian 
church,  they  merited  reverence,  and  had  a  just  claim 
to  the  authority  which  Christ  has  vested  in  all  his 
ministers:  but  this  was  not  sufficient  for  the  pur- 
2:)oses  of  pride  and  sensual  ambition;  and  that  which 
the  gospel  allowed  not,  they  had  to  support  by  a 
cumbersome  scaffolding  of  crafty  inventions.  Nor 
did  they  stop  here  ;  for  no  invention  which  tends  to 


24  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

violate  trutli  or  nature  can  endure  long,  if  the  evi- 
dence existing  against.it  be  not  studiously  anticipat- 
ed. To  prevent  the  light  of  the  gospel,  therefore, 
from  freely  circulating,  to  put  a  ban  upon  reason 
when  it  ventured  to  assail  even  the  outworks  of 
usurj)ed  authority,  was  the  grand  policy  of  Kome; 
and  in  this  it  succeeded  till  it  left  no  alternative  for 
mankind  but  to  groan  perpetually  under  the  most 
galling  of  yokes,  or  to  assert  the  right  of  reason  and 
the  liberty  of  the  gospel  with  a  new  and  holy  en- 
thusiasm."* 

After  the  birth  of  Christ,  the  most  momentous 
event  in  the  annals  of  the  human  race  is  that  Titanic 
struggle  which  occurred  in  the  sixteenth  century  for 
the  reformation  of  those  abuses  which  deformed  and 
scandalized  the  Christian  name.  The  success  of 
the  reformers  has  been  pregnant  with  the  most 
beneficent  results.  It  has  bequeathed  to  mankind 
the  rich  legacy  of  a  pure  gospel,  the  spirit  of  in- 
quiry, and  unfettered  lips :  influential  also  upon  the 
politics  of  Christendom,  it  has  marked  out  many 
of  the  limits  and  duties  of  Christian  citizenship,  and 
taught  rulers  the  true  sources  and  uses  of  sovereign 
power :  inculcating  nobler  social  ethics,  it  has  lifted 
a  servile,  ignorant,  and  licentious  race,  melted  in 
baths  and  perfumes,  engrossed  in  folly  and  debauch- 
ery, upon  a  higher  plane  of  manhood  and  honorable 
living.  Civilization,  depending  for  its  progress  upon 
the  diftusion  of  intelligence  and  the  estabhshment 
of  just  laws,  received  from  the  Reformation,  which 

*  Stebbing's  Hist,  of  the  Eeformation,  Vol.  1.,  pp.  1,  2. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  25 

unlocked  tlie  stores  of  learning  which  till  then  had 
lain  useless  and  musty  in  monastic  cloisters,  a  won- 
derful impetus.  There  was  no  sphere  of  life  which 
its  potent  influence  did  not  speedily  reach  and  ele- 
vate. It  opened  the  ponderous  doors  of  the  religious 
prison-house,  disclosing  the  ghastly  mysteries  of 
the  modern  Babylon.  Then  Christianity  was  born 
anew:  to  that  transition  age,  religion,  science,  let- 
ters, and  civihty  are  heavily  indebted. 

"  God  who  prepares  his  work  through  ages,  ac- 
complishes it  by  the  weakest  instruments  when  his 
time  is  come.  To  effect  great  results  by  the  smallest 
means,  such  is  the  law  of  God.  This  law,  which 
prevails  everywhere  in  nature,  is  found  also  in  his- 
tory. God  selected  the  reformers  of  the  church 
from  the  same  class  whence  ho  had  taken  the  apos- 
tles. He  chose  them  from  among  that  lower  rank 
which,  although  not  the  meanest,  does  not  reacli  the 
level  of  the  middle  classes.  Every  thing  was  thus 
intended  to  manifest  to  the  world  that  the  work  was 
not  of  man,  but  of  God,  The  reformer  Zwingle 
emerged  from  an  Alpine  shepherd's  hut;  Melanc- 
tlion,  the  theologian  of  the  Reformation,  fi'om  an 
armorer's  shop;  and  Luther  from  the  cottage  of  a 
poor  miner."* 

"  The  world,"  said  Luther  one  day  when  at  table 
with  his  friends,  using  one  of  those  quaint  simili- 
tudes in  which  he  delighted,  "is  a  vast  and  mag- 
nificent game  of  cards,  made  up  of  emperors,  kings, 
and  princes.     The  pope  for  many  centuries  beat  the 

*  D'Aubigne's  Hist,  of  tho  Ref.,  Vol.  1,  Book  II.,  p.  143. 

Lather.  2 


2G  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

emperors,  kings,  and  princes.  Tliey  yielded  and 
fell  before  liim.  Then  came  our  Lord  God.  He 
dealt  tlie  cards  :  lie  took  the  lowest,"  Luther,  "for 
himself,  and  with  it  he  beat  the  pope,  that  vanquish- 
er of  the  kings  of  the  earth.  This  is  the  ace  of  God. 
As  Mary  said,  'He  hath  put  down  the  mighty  from 
their  seats,  and  exalted  them  of  low  degree.'"* 

Martin  Luther,  the  gi'and  central  figure  of  the 
Reformation,  was  born  on  the  10th  of  November, 
1483,t  at  Eisleben,  a  village  of  Saxony,  situated  near 
the  Harz  mountains,  and  then  subject  to  the  Counts 
of  Mansfeld.  On  the  following  day,  Tuesday,  it 
being  St.  Martin's  day,  he  received  the  seal  of  his 
dedication  to  God,  in  memoiy  of  which  he  was  call- 
ed Martin  by  his  parents. 

The  ancestors  of  this  boy  just  born  and  conse- 
crated to  God's  service  were  peasants,  inhabiting 
the  village  of  Mora,  near  the  Thui'ingian  forests. 
Melancthon  hints  that  the  Luther  family  were 
ancient  and  numerous.^ 

The  man  to  whom  God  gave  the  rare  honor  of 
calling  the  great  inaugurator  of  the  new  regime  sou, 
was  named  John  Luther,  and  was  a  younger  mem- 
ber of  the  family.     Marrying  the  daughter  of  a  cit- 

•  Luther's  "Table  Talk." 

t  An  attempt  ^vas  made  by  Luther's  enemies,  -who  believed  in 
astrology,  to  prove  that  he  'n-as  born  on  the  22d  of  October,  -when, 
as  they  said,  there  vras  a  certain  malign  conjunction  of  the  planets. 
It  was  asserted  that  vrith.  siich  a  horoscope  he  could  scarcelj'  fail 
of  being  a  heretic  and  reprobate. 

X  Vetus  famUia  est  et  late  propagata  mediocrium  hominum. 
Melancthon's  "Vita  Lutheri." 


or  MARTIN  LUTHER.  27 

izen  of  Neustadt,  in  the  see  of.  Warzburg,  Gretlia 
Lindemann,  the  newly  wedded  pair  quitted  the 
Thuringian  plains,  pushing  buoyantly  and  resolute- 
ly out  into  the  great  world  in  search  of  a  home  and 
livelihood. 

They  finally  selected  Eisleben  as  their  residence. 
Here,  under  the  brow  of  the  Harz  mountains,  John 
Luther  erected  his  cot ;  and  being  a  miner  by  trade, 
he  found  in  the  adjacent  mines  that  employment 
which  he  desired. 

John  Luther,  notwithstanding  his ;  humble  sta- 
tion and  his  poverty,  which  was  at  this  time  ex- 
treme, was  a  man  of  intelligence  and  a  great  reader. 
Books  were  then  rare;  but  the  miner  omitted  no 
opportunity  for  their  acquisition,  and  he  devoted  a 
large  portion  of  his  leisure  hours  to  their  perusal. 
He  was  a  man  of  ujaright  and  frank  character,  min- 
gling, however,  with  those  qualities  a  firmness  which 
amounted  to  obstinacy.* 

Concerning  Luther's  mother,  we  have  Melanc- 
thon's  testimony  that  she  possessed  all  those  vir- 
tues which  adorn  a  noble  and  Christian  woman. 
She  was  looked  upon  by  the  matrons  of  the  neigh- 
borhood as  a  model  whom  they  should  strive  to 
imitate.t 

It  has  never  been  definitely  ascertained  how 
many  children  were  born  to  this  worthy  pair;  but 
it  is  certain  that  there  were  several  besides  Martin, 
since  two  died  of  the  plague  which  desolated  Europe 

*  D'Aubignd's  Hist,  of  tho  Ecf.,  Vol.  1,  Book  II.,  p.  U5. 
t  Melancthon's  "Vita  Luthcri." 


28  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

at  the  commencement  of  the  sixteenth  century,  and 
one,  a  daughter,  married  the  scribe  Ruhel  de  Mans- 
feldt,  whose  name  occasionally  occurs  in  Luther's 
corres^Jondence.^ 

Ere  Martin  was  a  year  old  his  parents  removed 
from  Eisleben  to  the  adjoining  village  of  Mansfeldt, 
attracted  thither  by  the  celebrity  of  the  Mansfeldt 
mines. 

Lvither  has  himself  informed  us  that  his  parents 
were  at  this  period  very  poor.  He  adds,  "  They  en- 
dured the  seyerest  labor  for  our  sakes."  Thus  the 
little  boy  was  early  inured  to  labor  and  frugality. 
But  the  indefatigable  zeal  and  business  tact  of  the 
elder  Luther  would  not  suffer  him  to  grovel  long  in 
the  depths  of  abject  poverty.  It  was  not  long  ere 
his  economy  and  success  enabled  him  to  establish 
at  Mansfeldt  two  smelting  furnaces.  His  integrity 
and  moral  worth  were  speedily  recognized  by  his 
fellow-townsmen,  who  promoted  him  to  several 
magisterial  offices.f 

Although  not  himself  what  would  be  termed  a 
man  of  cultivated  mind,  John  Luther  had  acquired 
sufficient  knowledge  to  be  fully  conscious  of  its 
value,  and  he  early  determined  to  bestow  upon  young 
Martin  a  good  education,  and  if  he  exhibited  an 
aptitude  for  learning,  to  train  him  up  to  scholarly 
pursuits. 

John  Luther,  having  been  appointed  counsellor 
of  Mansfeldt,  took  advantage  of  his  official  position 

*  Audin's  "Histoire  de  Luther." 

t  D'Aubigne's  Hist,  of  the  Eef.,  Vol.  1,  p.  146. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  29 

to  court  the  society  which  he  preferred.  "  He  had 
a  great  esteem  for  learned  men,  and  often  invited 
to  his  table  the  clergy  and  schoolmasters  of  the 
place.  His  house  offered  a  picture  of  those  social 
meetings  of  his  fellow-citizens,  which  did  honor  to 
Germany  at  the  commencement  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  It  was  a  mirror  in  which  Avere  reflected 
the  numerous  images  that  followed  one  another  on 
the  agitated  scene  of  the  times.  The  child  profited 
by  them.  No  doubt  the  sight  of  these  men,  to  whom 
so  much  respect  was  shown  in  his  father's  house, 
excited  more  than  once  in  little  Martin's  heart  the 
ambitious  desire  of  becoming  himself  one  day  a 
schoolmaster  or  learned  man."* 

The  austerity  and  earnestness  of  his  parents,  by 
checking  the  natural  tendency  of  his  character  to 
impulsive  thought  and  expression,  undoubtedly  had 
a  happy  influence  upon  young  Luther.  He  was 
taught  to  be  attentive  to  the  soberness  and  reality 
of  hfe.  But  it  is  certain  that  in  their  excessive  use 
of  corporeal  chastisement  as  an  incentive  to  study 
or  the  performance  of  duty,  they  greatly  erred, 
securing,  not  a  ready  comphance  with  their  just 
wishes,  but  the  timid  acquiescence  of  a  cowed  spirit. 
Martin's  parents  were  very  harsh  to  him  in  the 
earhest  and  most  impressible  years  of  his  Hfe,  not 
intentionally,  but  simply  because  such  was  the  vi- 
cious domestic  custom  of  the  age.  Luther  in  after- 
life wrote  these  words :  "  My  parents  treated  me 
htirshly,  so  that  I  became  very  timid.  My  mother 
*  D'Aubigne's  Hist,  of  the  Ref.  Vol.  1,  pp.  146-7. 


30  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

one  day  chastised  me  so  severely  about  a  hazel-nut 
that  I  had  stolen,  that  the  blood  came.  They  seri- 
ously thought  that  they  were  doing  right ;  but  they 
could  not  distinguish  character,  which  however  is 
very  necessary  in  order  to  know  when,  or  where,  or 
how  chastisement  should  be  inflicted.  It  is  neces- 
sary to  punish ;  but  the  apple  should  be  placed  be- 
side the  rod."* 

Luther  at  six  years  of  age  could  read  and  wi'ite 
fluently,  t  Exhibiting  at  the  same  time  great  apti- 
tude for  study,  and  singular  oratorical  talent,  his 
father  determined,  when  he  became  of  a  sufficient 
age,  to  send  him  to  the  university,  there  to  initiate 
himself  into  the  mysteries  of  the  law,  then  as  now 
one  of  the  grand  avenues  to  fame  and  preferment. 

Meantime  Martin  was  continued  at  school  in 
Mansfeldt  until  he  reached  his  fourteenth  year,  being 
treated  by  the  schoolmaster  with  no  less  severity 
than  he  met  with  at  ■  his  father's  hearthstone.  His 
master  flogged  him  fifteen  successive  times  in  one 
morning.  Afterwards,  when  relating  this  circum- 
stance, Luther  said,  "  We  must  whip  children,  but 
we  must  at  the  same  time  love  them.":}: 

Having  acquired  at  Mansfeldt  the  common  rudi- 
ments taught  in  the  lower  schools  of  that  day,  the 
catechism,  the  apostle's  creed,  some  hymns,  the 
Roman  formulas  of  prayer,  and  having  peeped  into 
a  Latin  grammar,  Martin  received  his  father's  bless- 

*  Luther's  0pp.  Works,  22,  p.  1785. 

t  Audin's  Hist,  de  M.  Luther. 

X  D'Aubigu^'s  History  of  the  Reformation,  Vol.  I.,  p.  148. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  31 

ing  and  his  mother's  kiss,  and  left  home  for  Magde- 
burg, where  his  father  had  resolved  to  place  him  in 
the  Franciscan  school. 

"  In  the  month  of  May,  1497,  two  scholars  wend- 
ed their  way  along  the  high  road  from  Mansfeldt  to 
Bernburg,  knapsacks  on  their  backs,  sticks  in  their 
hands,  and  great  tears  rolling  down  their  cheeks : 
they  were  Martin  Luther,  aged  fourteen,  and  his 
comrade  Hans  Eeinicke,  about  the  same.  Both  had 
just  quitted  the  j)aternal  roof,  and  were  proceeding 
on  foot  to  Magdeburg,  to  avail  themselves  of  the 
curi^end  scJmlen,  celebrated  seminaries  in  the  middle 
ages,  which  still  exist.  Here  each  boy  paid  for  his 
board  and  education  by  means  of  alms  collected 
from  the  richer  townsmen,  under  whose  windows 
they  used  to  sing  twice  a  week,  and  of  money  earned 
as  choristers."* 

After  the  passage  of  a  few  mouths,  Luther's 
parents,  learning  of  the  difficulty  with  which  he 
supported  himself  at  Magdeburg,  transferred  him 
to  the  free  school  at  Eisenach,  in  which  village  he 
had  a  number  of  relatives.  But  despite  that  fact, 
the  young  student  at  the  outset  fared  but  little  bet- 
ter than  at  the  Franciscan  school.  As  illustrating 
a  singular  phase  of  the  social  Hfe  of  those  times,  it 
is  worthy  of  notice  that,  at  Eisenach  as  at  Magde- 
burg, Luther  supported  himself  by  singing  before 
people's  houses;  audit  was  a  custom  then  of  the 
poor  students  of  Germany.  Luther,  after  relating 
this  circumstance,  adds,  "  Let  no  one  in  my  pres- 
*  Audiu's  "Histoire  de  M.  Luther." 


32  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

ence  speak  contemptuously  of  tlie  poor  fellows  who 
go  fi'om  door  to  door  singing  and  begging  bread 
propter  Deum.  You  know  the  psalm  says,  Princes 
and  Mngs  have  sung.  I  myself  was  once  a  j)Oor 
mendicant,  seeking  my  bread  at  people's  houses, 
particularly  at  Eisenach,  my  own  dear  Eisenach."'* 
Eventually  he  obtained  a  more  regular  subsistence 
and  an  asylum  in  the  house  of  Ursula  Cotta,  a 
hospitable  and  kind-hearted  woman,  who  has  been 
made  famous  by  her  connection  with  Luther. 

The  charitable  lady  had  noticed  Luther  at 
church,  and  had  been  especially  pleased  by  his 
singmg,  Martin  then  being  engaged  every  Sunday 
as  chorister.  One  evening,  on  opening  her  door, 
she  noticed  the  boy  standing  dejectedly  before  her 
house  and  gazing  wistfully  at  the  board  amply 
spread  within.  Eecogniziug  him,  the  lady  asked 
what  he  desired.  Poor  Luther,  who  was  very  hun- 
gry, and  w^ho  while  begging  had  already  on  that 
day  been  repulsed  from  three  houses,  won  by  the 
kind  tones  and  benevolent  asjDect  of  dame  Ursula, 
poured  into  her  ear  his  whole  story.  She  suppKed 
his  wants ;  and  upon  her  husband  Conrad's  return, 
he  also  became  so  much  interested  in  the  bright 
and  fascinating  boy,  that  he  was  fain  to  imdte  him 
to  take  up  his  permanent  residence  with  them, 
which  a  few  days  afterwards  he  did. 

"  Luther  passed  in  Cotta's  house  a  very  differ- 
ent kind  of  life  from  that  which  he  had  hitherto 
known.  His  existence  glided  away  calmly,  exempt 
*  Michelet's  Life  of  Luther,  pp.  4,  5. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  33 

from  want  and  care  ;  his  mind  became  more  serene, 
his  character  more  cheerful,  and  his  heart  more 
open.  All  his  faculties  awoke  at  the  mild  rajs  of 
charity,  and  he  began  to  exult  with  life,  joy,  and 
happiness.  His  prayers  were  more  fervent,  his 
thirst  for  knowledge  greater,  and  his  progress  in 
study  more  rapid. 

"  To  literature  and  science  he  added  the  charms 
of  the  arts,  for  they  also  were  advancing  in  Ger- 
many. The  men  whom  God  destines  to  act  upon 
their  contemporaries,  are  themselves  at  first  influ- 
enced and  carried  away  by  all  the  tendencies  of  the 
age  in  which  they  live.  Luther  learned  to  play  on 
the  flute  and  on  the  lute.  With  this  latter  instru- 
ment he  used  often  to  accompany  his  fine  alto 
voice,  and  thus  cheered  his  heart  in  the  hours  of 
sadness.  He  tooft  delight  in  testifying  by  his  mel- 
ody his  hvely  gratitude  towards  his  adopted  moth- 
er, who  was  passionately  fond  of  music.  He  him- 
self loved  the  art  even  to  old  age,  and  composed 
the  words  and  airs  of  some  of  the  finest  hymns 
that  Germany  possesses.  Many  of  these  have  even 
passed  into  our  language."* 

Luther  always  retained  the  liveliest  gratitude 
for  the  protection  and  friendship  lavished  upon 
him  by  the  Cottas.  Years  afterwards,  when  his 
fame  filled  Christendom,  one  of  his  old  friend's  sons 
came  to  study  at  Wittemberg,  and  the  youth  was 
received  under  Luther's  own  roof,  and  treated  with 
the  utmost  consideration.     It  was  in  memory  of 

*  D'Aubigne's  Histoty  of  tlie  Reformation,  Vol.  I.,  p.  152. 
2* 


34  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Ursula  Cotta  that  lie  uttered  this  beautiful  thought : 
"  There  is  nothing  sweeter  on  earth  than  the  heart 
of  a  woman  in  which  piety  dwells." 

By  the  assistance  rendered  him  by  the  Cotta 
family,  Martin  was  enabled  to  remain  at  the  Eise- 
nach school  during  four  years.*  In  that  time  he 
studied  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  poetry  under  a 
famous  master,  Trebonius,  rector  of  the  convent  of 
the  Barefooted  Carmelites. 

It  was  the  custom  of  Trebonius  to  give  his 
lessons  with  head  uncovered,  to  honor,  as  he  said, 
the  consuls,  chancellors,  doctors,  and  masters  who 
would  one  day  proceed  from  his  school.  Martin's 
ready  comprehension,  his  natural  eloquence,  his 
rare  power  of  elocution,  his  skill  in  composition, 
both  prose  and  poetical,  soon  made  him  the  object 
of  his  master's  special  favor ;  at  T;he  same  time,  his 
open,  cheerful,  and  obliging  dis^^osition  made  him 
exceedingly  popular  wdth  his  school-mates,  and  soon 
pushed  him  into  the  leadership  in  their  frolics,  as 
he  had  always  been  in  their  studies.! 

From  this  pleasant  and  improving  scene  Luther 
was,  in  1501,  called  away.  His  father,  now  in 
easier  circumstances,  wished  his  son  to  rej^air  to 
the  university  of  Erfurth.  Accordingly  Martin 
quitted,  not  withovit  many  sighs  and  tears,  the  dear 
Eisenach  streets,  and  in  his  eighteenth  year  he  was 
matriculated  at  Erfurth. 

*  Michelet's  Life  of  Luther.        f  Aiidiu's  "Hist,  de  Luther." 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  35 


CHAPTEK   II. 

In  the  registers  of  tlie  university,  still  open  to 
the  inspection  of  the  curious,  in  the  quaint  old  town 
of  Erfurth,  the  name  of  Luther  may  still  be  deci- 
phered, written  there  by  the  rector  Jodocus  Trutt- 
vetter,  "  Blartinus  Ludlier,  ex  Ilansjleld.''  This  en- 
try is  made  under  the  year  1501. 

A  year  later,  in  1502,  the  name  once  more  ap- 
pears :  "  Ilartinus  Luder,  Baccalcmriiis  pMlosopMce."  ■ 

"  At  Erfurth,"  says  Melancthon,  "  Martin  read 
most  of  the  writings  that  remain  to  us  of  the  an- 
cient Latins,  Cicero,  Yirgil,  and  the  rest.  At  the 
age  of  twenty  he  was  honored  with  the  title  of  Mas- 
ter of  Arts ;  and  then,  by  the  advice  of  his  relations, 
he  began  to  apply  himself  to  jurisprudence.  In  the 
monastery,  he  excited  general  admiration  in  the 
public  exercises  by  the  facility  with  which  he  extri- 
cated himself  from  the  labyrinths  of  dialectics.  He 
read  assiduously  the  prophets  and  the  apostles,  then 
the  books  of  St.  Augustine,  his  explanation  of  the 
Psalms,  and  his  book  on  the  "Spirit  and  the  Letter." 
He  almost  got  by  heart  the  treatises  of  Gabriel  Biel 
and  Pierre  d'Audilly,  bishop  of  Cambray ;  he  studied 
with  earnestness  the  writings  of  Occam,  whose  logic 
he  preferred  to  that  of  Scotus  and  Thomas  Aqui- 
nas. He  also  read  a  great  deal  of  the  writings  of 
Gerson,  and  above  all,  those  of  St.  Augustine."* 

*  Melauctlion's  "  Vita  Lutheri. " 


36  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

"Wliile  at  the  university,  Lutlier  mastered  tlie 
subtle  intricacies  of  the  schohxstic  theology  and  of 
Aiistotle's  dialectics,  both  of  which  God  destined 
him  in  after  years  to  wound  so  fatally. 

His  instructors  at  Erfurth  were  Jodocus  Trutt- 
vetter,  whose  death  he  afterwards  accused  himself 
of  hastening  by  his  rebellion  against  and  discomfit- 
ure of  the  curriculum  of  the  schools  ;'"  Jerome  Em- 
ser,  who  explained  the  poetics  of  Reuchlin ;  Gerard 
Hecker,  an  Augustin  monk,  who  afterwards  became 
a  convert  to  the  tenets  of  the  Reformation,  intro- 
,  ducing  it  into  his  convent  ;t  Bartholomew  Usin- 
ger,  surnamed  Arnoldi,  who  vigorously  opposed  the 
new  doctrine ;  John  Grovenstein,  who  loudly  pro- 
tested against  the  execution  of  John  Huss,  and 
regarded  the  curate  of  Bethleem  as  a  martyr ;  and 
John  Bigaud,  who  remained  throughout  life  zeal- 
ously attached  to  his  pupil.:]: 

Under  the  tuition  of  these  able  professors,  young 
Luther  made  rapid  progress  in  his  studies.  Here 
also,  as  at  the  schools  of  Magdeburg  and  Eisenach, 
his  frank  and  generous  temper  melted  all  hearts 
into  the  warmest  attachment ;  while  his  retentive 
memory,  his  teeming  imagination,  his  brilliant 
scholarship,  his  acute  and  soaring  intellect,  and  his 
moral  deportment,  made  "  the  whole  university," 
as  Melancthon  assures  us,  "  admire  his  genius."§ 

Although,  in   obedience   to   his   father's   wish, 

*  Audin's  "Histoire  cle  Luther."  f  Ibid.  %  Ibid. 

§  "  Sic  igitur  in  juventute  eminebat,  nt  toti  academite  Lutheri 
ingcnium  admirationi  csset. "    Vita  Lutheri. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  37 

Martin  devoted  himself  assiduously  to  the  study  of 
the  civil  law,  his  heart  was  never  in  it.  He  infi- 
nitely preferred  the  belles-lettres  and  music.  Of 
music  he  did  not  hesitate  to  say,  that  to  him  it 
appeared  the  first  of  the  arts  after  theology.  "Mu- 
sic," he  affirmed,  "  is  the  art  of  the  prophets ;  it  is 
the  only  other  art  which,  like  theology,  can  calm 
the  agitations  of  the  soul  and  put  the  devil  to 
flight." 

"  Not  less  remarkable,  not  less  significant  than 
his  prose  works,  are  the  poems  of  Luther,  those 
stirring  songs  which  escaped  from  him  in  the  very 
midst  of  his  combats  and  his  necessities,  as  a  flower 
makes  its  way  from  between  rough  stones,  or  as  a 
moonbeam  glitters  amid  dark  clouds.  Luther  loved 
music  ;  he  wrote  indeed  a  treatise  on  the  art.  His 
versification  accordingly  is  in  a  very  high  degree 
hai'monious,  so  that  under  this  head  too  he  may  be 
called  the  Swan  of  Eisleben :  not  that  he  was  by  any 
means  gentle  or  swanlike  in  the  songs  which  he 
composed  for  the  purpose  of  exciting  the  courage 
of  his  people ;  in  these  he  is  fervent,  fierce.  The 
hymn  which  he  composed  on  his  way  to  Worms  is 
a  regular  war  song.  The  old  cathedral  trembled 
when  it  heard  these  novel  sounds;  the  very  crows 
flew  from  their  nests  on  its  towers.  That  hymn, 
the  Marseillaise  of  the  Reform ation,  has  preserved 
to  the  x^i'esent  day  its  potent  spell  over  German 
hearts,  and  we  may  yet  hear  it  thundered  forth."* 

This  inclination  to  music  and  literature,  the 
*  Heine,  in  the  "  Rovue  de  Denx  Mondos"  for  March  1,  1834. 


38  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

assiduous  cultivation  of  the  arts,  wliicli  lie  alternat- 
ed with  the  study  of  logic  and  the  law,  presented  no 
indication  that  he  was  so  soon  to  play  the  chief  part 
in  contemi^oraneous  religious  history.  Yarious  tra- 
ditions moreover  would  lead  us  to  believe  that,  not- 
withstanding his  application  and  his  high  moral 
character,  he  took  his  share  in  the  amusements  of 
German  student  life  at  that  period-' — that  gayety 
in  indigence,  those  boisterous,  hearty  manners,  that 
martial  exterior,  with  a  gentle  spirit  and  peaceful 
disposition  within. 

Yet  despite  his  enjoyment  of  those  frolics  which 
seem  in  all  countries  to  be  inseparably  connected 
with  university  life,  Luther  still  managed  to  spend 
a  large  portion  of  his  leisure  time  in  the  alcoves  of 
the  Erfurth  library.  Passionately  fond  of  books, 
he  never  tired  of  taking  from  the  shelves  the  musty 
old  volumes  of  half-forgotten  lore,  whose  pages  he 
scanned  with  hearty  zest. 

One  day — he  Avas  then  in  his  twentieth  year, 
and  had  been  at  the  university  two  years — while 
engaged  as  usual  in  glancing  over  the  library  man- 
uscripts, he  chanced  to  open  an  old  volume,  mouldy 
and  cobwebbed.  Attracted  by  its  antique  asj^ect, 
Luther  read  its  title,  and  found  it  to  be  a  Latin 
Bible,  the  first  he  had  ever  seen.f  ,  This  he  read 
and  reread  with  inexpressible  and  never-ceasing 
delight,  mingled  with  some  astonishment,  for  until 
then  he  had  imagined  that  the  fragments  of  Scrip- 

*  Michelt't's  Life  of  Liitlier. 

t  Audin,  Miclielet,  Miluev,  Mosheim,  Maimbourg,  Seckeudorf. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  39 

ture  contained  in  the  various  collects  of  tlie  Roman 
ritual  embraced  the  whole  word  of  God. 

Thus  in  an  obscure  corner  of  a  neglected  library, 
locked  up  in  the  Latin  text,  was  discovered  to  Mar- 
tin Luther  that  book  which  he  was  so  instrumental 
in  restoring  to  its  pristine  dignity,  purity,  and  au- 
thority, and  which  he  did  so  much  to  pojDularize  by 
that  admirable  German  translation  in  which  his 
countrymen  still  read  the  oracles  of  God. 

Luther  was  particularly  charmed  by  the  story 
of  Hannah  and  her  son  Samuel.  "  O  God,"  he  mur- 
mured, "  could  i  have  one  of  these  books,  I  would 
ask  no  other  worldly  treasure."  A  great  revolution 
then  took  place  in  his  soul.  Human  words  clothed 
in  p'oetry,  however  noble,  seemed  to  him  worthless 
and  tame  in  comparison  with  the  inspired  word. 
Distressed  in  his  mind,  experiencing  a  greater  dis- 
taste than  ever  for  the  law,  and  worn  by  study,  he 
fell  ill.  An  old  priest  came  to  confess  him.  The 
patient  w^as  pale,  and  gave  way  to  a  depression 
which  aggravated  his  sufferings.  "  Come,  my  son," 
said  the  good  confessor  to  him,  "  courage,  courage ; 
you  will  not  die  of  this  sickness.  God  has  a  great 
destiny  in  store  for  you;  he  will  make  a  man  of 
you,  and .  you  will  live  to  console  others  in  3'our 
turn;  for  Goddoves  those  whom  he  chastens."'- 

Li  1505,  some  time  after  his  discovery  of  the 
Latin  Bible,  two  incidents  occurred  which  still  fur- 
ther changed  the  current  of  Luther's  thoughts,  and 
drove  him  to  new-model  the  plan  of  his  life. 

*  Audiu's  "  Histoire  de  Luther." 


40  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

The  assassination  of  one  of  his  intimate  college 
friends  caused  him  much  sorrow,  which  was  sud- 
denly increased  to  an  agony  by  the  self-put  inquiry, 
"What  if  I  should  be  called  thus  unexpectedly 
away?"  This  question,  echoing  and  reechoing  in 
his  ears,  gave  him  no  peace.  The  phantom  of  that 
thought  he  could  not  lay. 

Shortly  afterwards,  while  walking  near  Erfurth, 
he  was  overtaken  by  a  terrific  thunder-storm.  The 
diapason  of  the  elemental  cannonade  smote  with 
crushing  force  upon  his  shrinking  senses.  The 
forked  tongue  of  the  lightning  greedily  licked  the 
ground  all  about  him.  He  seemed  encompassed 
by  the  ghastly  flames.  The  clammy  fingers  of  death 
appeared  to  be  tugging  at  his  throat.  Delirious 
with  horror,  the  poor  student  fell  prostrate  to  the 
ground,  breathing  a  vow  to  heaven,  that  if  he  sur- 
vived the  perils  of  that  awful  hour,  he  would  dedi- 
cate himself  to  God's  service,  and  entering  some 
monastic  order,  assume  the  cowl,  the  sandals,  and 
the  cord." 

Luther  has  himself  informed  us  that  it  was  not 
dehberately,  or  even  willingly,  that  he  became  a 
monk.  "  Being  suddenly  encompassed  by  the  ter- 
rors of  death,"  he  says,  "I  made  a  reluctant  and 
forced  vow."  Nevertheless  the  conscientious  stu- 
dent regarded  this  oath,  wrung  from  him  in  a  kind 

*  These  incidents  are  narrated  at  length,  and  vouclied  for  by 
all  Luther's  biographers — D'Aubigne,  Andin,  llichelet,  Melanc- 
tlion,  Seckendoif,  Milner,  Maimbonrg,  Moreri,  Du  Pin,  and  the 
rest 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  41 

of  duress,  as  morally  binding,  and  therefore  lie  de- 
termined to  adhere  to  it. 

Knowing  well  the  bitter  opposition  which  his 
new  project  would  meet  from  his  relatives,  and  par- 
ticularly from  his  father,  whose  heart  he  well  knew 
to  be  bound  up  in  beholding  his  son  one  day  a 
famous  lawyer,  and  feehng  that  in  this  matter  no 
amount  of  expostulation  could  move  him  from  his 
course,  Luther  determined,  by  keeping  his  purpose 
locked  in  his  own  breast  until  his  actions  had  dis- 
covered it  and  rendered  it  unchangeable,  to  fore- 
stall the  entreaties  of  his  friends. 

Accordingly  on  the  evening  of  the  17th  of  July, 
1505,"  summoning  a  number  of  his  most  intimate 
university  associates  to  meet  in  his  room,  he  passed 
with  them  a  pleasant  musical  and  convivial  night; 
then  bidding  his  fi'iends  and  the  world  adieu,  he 
entered  on  the  following  morning  the  Augustine 
monastery  at  Erfurth. 

Taking  with  him  nothing  to  remind  him  of  his 
former  life  but  two  favorite  volumes,  a  Plautus  and 
a  Yirgil,  cut  off  from  his  studies  and  his  friends, 
young  Luther  buried  himself  in  the  living  sepulchre 
of  the  cloister,  not  to  acquire  the  reputation  of  a 
great  genius,  but  to  seek  food  for  his  piety.i- 

*  Michelet.     D'Atibigue  says  it  was  the  17tli  of  August,  1505. 
Vol.  I.,  p.  162. 

t  Melanctlion's  "  Vita  Lutberi." 


42  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTER  III. 

Now,  just  as  Martin  Luther's  connection  witli 
tlie  cliurcli  commences  tlirougli  his  entrance  into 
the  cloister,  it  becomes  of  interest  to  learn  some- 
thing of  the  ecclesiastical  condition  of  Europe  at 
the  period  which  immediately  preceded  the  Befor- 
mation. 

The  Eoman  see,  originally  a*  simple  bishopric, 
which  had  risen  from  the  despised  church  planted 
by  St.  Paul  beneath  the  shadoAV  of  the  throne  of 
the  Cfcsars,  under  the  sway  of  a  series  of  unscrupu- 
lous, able,  and  ambitious  prelates,  had  gradually, 
in  the  lapse  of  ages,  arrogated  to  itself  the  supreme 
ecclesiastical  control,  deceiving  from  the  neigh- 
boring princes  a  voluntary  recognition  of  their 
claims  to  spiritual  authority,  it  was  not  long  ere  the 
new-born  hierarchy  of  the  church  began  to  cast 
longing  eyes  upon  temporal  superiority.  In  those 
rude  and  stormy  times,  princes  were  often  shaken 
from  their  thrones,  either  by  the  onset  of  the  Sara- 
cens, or  by  internecine  broils.  They  were  in  conse- 
quence obliged  to  have  recourse  to  some  central 
power  for  jorotection  and  support.  Home  offered  to 
princes  so  situated  her  active  countenance,  on  con- 
dition that  they  would  concede  to  her  both  spiritual 
and  temporal  supremacy.  Too  often  their  straits 
compelled  them  to  comply  with  this  requisition.  It 
was  no  uncommon  thing  for  the  early  European 


or  MAETIN  LUTHER.  43 

sovereigns  to  sign  away  one-lialf  tlieir  domains, 
and  pay  their  allegiance  to  Kome  for  tlie  whole,  on 
condition  of  tlieir  partial  reinstatement  into  their 
rights  in  the  remaining  half  of  their  territory.  The 
E.oman  see  thus  became  the  usurer  of  the  nations. 
It  gradually  hardened  into  a  gigantic  Shylock. 
Forgetful  of  its  design,  it  became  greedy  only  to 
swallow  the  usurped  dominions  of  its  neighbors  ; 
and  the  atrocious  spectacle  was  presented  of  a 
church  planted  to  garner  up  souls  for  the  heavenly 
kingdom,  anxious  mainly  to  acquire  the  temporal 
possession  and  enjoy  the  emoluments  of  this  world. 

In  this  encroachment  "of  the  Roman  church  the 
western  bishops  acquiesced,  partly  perhaps  from 
jealousy  of  their  eastern  brethren,  and  partly  be- 
cause they  preferred  to  submit  to  the  supremacy  of 
a  pope,  rather  than  to  bow  in  submission  to  the  do- 
minion of  an  independent  temporal  power. 

Thus  the  living  church  retired  into  the  lonely 
.sanctuary  of  a  few  true  hearts,  and  an  external 
church,  abounding  in  pompous  forms,  and  inflated 
with  earthly  pride,  at  length  supplanted  it,  and 
impiously  declared  itself  to  be  of  divine  ap^joint- 
ment. 

Under  a  succession  of  ambitious  churchmen,  the 
Benedicts,  Hildebrands,  and  Gregorys  of  ecclesias- 
tical history,  this  usurped  power  was  consolidated 
and  increased  until,  at  the  commencement  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  the  Iloman  pontiffs  were  the 
acknowledged  and  undisputed  arbiters  of  Chris- 
tendom. 


4A  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Of  course  it  was  not  possible  but  tliat  terrible 
abuses  and  coiTuptions  slioulcl  disfigure  and  dis- 
grace an  ecclesiasticism  wliicli  had  departed  so 
radically  from  the  original  and  simple  purpose  of  its 
institution. 

In  1505,  at  the  time  when  Luther  entered  the 
cloister,  the  religious  condition  of  Europe  was  sin- 
gularly wretched  and  scandalous ;  yet  not  a  ripple 
of  rebuke  stirred  the  placid  sea  of  papal  corruption. 
Against  the  flagitious  and  abounding  profligacy  of 
the  times  no  voice  dared  protest.  Over  the  minds 
of  the  few  earnest  and  sincere  ecclesiastics  who  still 
lingered  in  the  cloisters  there  settled  a  sullen  gloom. 
The  ponderous  and  merciless  machinery  of  the  Eo- 
man  hierarchy  clanked  unquestioned,  and  without  a 
hitch.  The  so-called  heresy  of  the  Waldenses,  who 
had  attempted  to  inaugurate  a  purer  regime,  had 
been  choked  in  blood.  The  Council  of  Constance 
had  recently  burned  John  Huss  in  the  public  mar- 
ket-place, because  he  ventured  to  difi'er  from  the 
E,oman  theologians;  while  the  doctors  of  the  Sor- 
honne  openly  declared  the  faggot  and  the  stake  to 
be  the  only  Hght  fit  to  guide  the  erring. 

The  agents  of  the  Inquisition  occupied  them- 
selves in  suppressing  all  books  which  did  not  bear 
the  imprimatur  of  the  Vatican;  thus  wronging  not 
the  living  only,  but  the  dead;  for  "many  a  man," 
says  Milton,  "lives  a  burden  to  the  earth,  but  a 
good  book  is  the  precious  lifeblood  of  a  master- 
spirit, embalmed  and  treasured  up  on  purpose  to  a 
life  beyond  life." 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  45 

Effeminate  philosophers  stoojjecT  to  tlie  grave 
discussion  of  the  emptiest  and  most  frivolous  prop- 
ositions, growing  heated  over  such  topics  as  these : 
"  Do  2  X  2  =  4  or  5  ?"  and,  "  Can  angels  fly  from  end 
to  end  without  passing  through  the  middle  ?"" 

Struggling  intellects  and  troubled  hearts  could 
expect  but  little  aid  or  sympathy  from  the  childish 
and  emasculated  philosophy  inculcated  by  these 
bastard  teachers.  "  Science,"  said  Lord  Bacon, 
"was  chained  in  that  dark  dungeon  to  which  the 
ignorance  or  the  spite  of  suspicious  priests  had 
consigned  her,  while  as  yet  no  knight-errant  had 
appeared  to  effect  her  deliverance."t 

At  this  period  not  the  slightest  cultivation  of 
Christian  metaphysics  was  even  attempted. 

Frederic  Myconius,  an  able  coadjutor  of  Luther, 
who  has  left  a  manuscript  history  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, paints  this  dreary  picture  of  the  ecclesiastical 
condition  of  that  epoch  : 

"  The  sufferings  and  merits  of  Christ  were  looked 
upon  as  an  idle  tale,  or  as  mere  fictions,  like  the 
Odyssey  of  Homer.  There  was  no  thought  of  the 
faith  by  which  we  become  partakers  of  the  Saviour's 
righteousness  and  of  the  heritage  of  eternal  life. 
Christ  was  looked  upon  as  a  severe  Judge,  prepared 
to  condemn  all  who  should  not  have  recourse  to  the 
intercession  of  the  saints,  or  to  the  papal  indulgen- 
ces. In  the  place  of  Christ  appeared  other  saviors 
and  intercessors,  the  Virgin  Mary  like  a  Pagan 

*  Seckendorf 's  History  of  Lutlieranism. 
t  Bacon's  Essays. 


46  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Diana,  and  various  saints  who  from  time  to  time 
had  been  created  by  the  poj)es. 

"  These  mediators  granted  their  intercessions 
only  to  such  applicants  as  had  deserved  weU  of  the 
orders  founded  by  them.  For  this  it  was  necessary 
to  do,  not  what  God  has  prescribed  in  the  deca- 
logue and  enjoined  on  all  mankind,  but  to  perform 
works  invented  by  monks  and  priests,  and  which 
brought  money  into  the  treasury.  These  works 
were  Ave  Marias,  the  prayers  of  St.  Ursula  and  of 
St.  Bridget ;  they  must  chant  and  cry  night  and 
day. 

"  There  were  as  many  resorts  for  pilgrims  as 
there  were  mountains,  forests,  and  valleys.  But 
these  penances  might  be  compounded  for  money. 
The  people  therefore  brought  to  the  convents  and 
to  the  priests  money  and  every  thing  that  had  any 
value— fowls,  ducks,  geese,  eggs,  wax,  straw,  butter, 
and  cheese.  Then  the  hymns  resounded,  the  beUs 
rang,  incense  filled  the  sanctuary,  sacrifices  were 
offered  up,  the  larders  overflowed,  the  glasses  went 
round,  and  masses  terminated  and  concealed  these 
pious  orgies.  The  bishops  no  longer  preached,  but 
they  consecrated  priests,  bells,  monks,  churches, 
chapels,  images,  books,  and  cemeteries  ;  and  all  this 
brought  in  a  large  revenue.  Bones,  arms,  and  feet, 
the  relics  of  pretended  saints,  were  preserved  in 
gold  and  silver  boxes :  they  were  given  out  during 
mass  for  the  faithful  to  kiss;  and  this  too  was  the 
source  of  great  profit.  All  these  people  maintained 
that  the  pope,  'sitting  as  God  in  the  temple  of 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  47 

God,'  2  Tliess.  2 : 4,  conlcl  not  err,  and  tliej  -would 
not  suffer  any  contradiction."- 

The  j)riests,  by  attempting  to  exalt  themselves, 
had  become  abased.  They  had  aimed  at  robbing 
God  of  a  ray  of  his  own  glory,  and  placing  it  in 
their  own  bosoms ;  but  their  attempt  had  proved 
vain,  and  they  had  only  hidden  there  a  leaven  of 
corruption  stolen  from  the  power  of  evil.f  The  his- 
tory of  the  age  swarms  with  scandals.  In  many 
places  the  people  were  delighted  at  seeing  a  priest 
openly  keep  a  mistress,  thinking  that  the  married 
women  would  thus  be  safe  from  his  seductions.^ 

The  rural  districts  were  the  scene  of  riotous  dis- 
orders. The  abodes  of  the  clergy  were  often  dens 
of  corruption.  Corneille  Adrian  at  Bruges,§  the 
abbot  Triukler  at  Cappel,||  in  imitation  of  the  east- 
ern emirs,  kept  open  harems.  Priests,  consorting 
with  dissolute  characters,  frequented  the  taverns, 
played  at  dice,  and  crowned  their  orgies  with  quar- 
rels and  blasphemies.TF 

The  Council  of  Schauff hausen  forbade  the  priests 
to  dance  in  public  except  at  marriages,  and  to  carry 
more  than  one  kind  of  arms.  They  decreed  also 
that  all  priests  discovered  in  brothels  should  be 
unfrocked."* 

*  Mycouins'  Hist,  of  the  Eef.     Seckenclorf 's  Hist,  of  Lutb. 
t  D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Reformation. 

I  Nicol.  De  Clemangis  cle  Prajsulib.  Simoniacis. 
§  Mctene.  Nederl.  Hist.  VIII. 

II  Hottiuger,  Hist.  Ecclcs.,  Vol.  IX. 

IT  Mandate  of  Hugo,  bishop  of  Constance,  March  3,  1517. 
•♦  Miiller's  "Reliques,"  Vol.  III.,  p.  251. 


48  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

"In  the  arclibisliopric  of  Mentz,  the  priests 
often  scaled  the  walls  by  night,  and  created  all  kinds 
of  disorder  and  confusion  in  the  inns  and  taverns, 
and  broke  the. doors  and  locks."- 

Erasmus  relates  that  in  many  places  the  priests 
paid  their  bishop  a  regular  tax  on  the  women  with 
wliom  they  lived,  and  for  each  child  had  by  them. 
A  German  bishop  said  publicly  one  day,  at  a  gi'eat 
entertainment,  that  in  one  year  eleven  thousand 
priests  had  presented  themselves  before  him  for  that 
purj)ose  in  his  single  diocese. t 

What  was  then  true  of  Christendom  at  large, 
was  especially  and  still  more  strikingly  true  of  Italy. 
Who  can  paint  in  detail  that  Italy  of  the  Borgias  ? 
"It  certainly,"  says  Michel^t,  "presented  at  this 
period  something  which  has  seldom,  nay,  which 
has  at  no  other  time  been  exhibited  in  history — a 
systematic  and  scientific  jDerversity,  a  magnificent 
ostentation  of  wickedness;  in  a  word,  the  atheist 
priest  proclaiming  himself  monarch  of  the  uni- 
verse.":}: 

Two  years  before  the  commencement  of  Luther's 
cloister  life.  Pope  Alexander  Sixth,  of  the  house  of 
Borgia,  perhaps  the  most  flagitious  of  an  infamous 
dynasty  of  pontilfs,  died,  having  himself  partaken 
of  some  poisoned  sweetmeats  which  he  had  design- 
ed for  a  certain  cardinal  who  had  offended  him. 

*  D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Keformation. 
t  "Uuo  anuo  ad  se  delata  undecim  millia  sacerdotum  palam 
concubinariorum. "     Erasmi  Oj^p.  IX. 
t  Michelet's  Life  of  Luther,  p.  13. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEB.  49 

Macauley's  epigram  may  justly  be  aj^plied  to  him  : 
"Each  act  of  his  life  reflects  fresh  infamy  upon 
every  other."  When  Eome  heard  of  his  death,  "the 
whole  city  ran  together,  and  could  not  satiate  their 
eyes  with  gazing  on  this  dead  viper." 

On  the  day  of  his  coronation  he  made  his  son 
C«sar  Borgia,  the  ideal  hero  of  crime,  archbishop 
of  Yalencia  and  bishop  of  Pampeluna.  "  That  spot 
of  earth  in  which  iniquity  had  attained  such  a  lieight 
was  the  throne  of  the  pontiffs."'" 

It  is  recorded  of  Alexander  Borgia,  that  he  cel- 
ebrated the  nuptials  of  his  daughter  Lucretia  Bor- 
gia, of  hideous  memory,  in  the  Vatican,  by  festivi- 
ties at  which  his  acknowledged  mistress,  Julia  Bella, 
Avas  openly  present,  and  which  were  enlivened  by 
farces,  indecent  songs,  and  orgies  of  which  the  most 
impure  groves  of  ancient  worship  saw  not  the  like.t 

In  explanation  of  the  unblushing  appearance  of 
Juha  Bella  on  that  occasion,  Capello,  an  ambassa- 
dor at  Rome  in  1500,  asserts  that  "all  the  clergy 
kept  mistresses,  and  all  the  convents  of  the  capital 
were  houses  of  ill-fame.":}: 

Pius  Third,  who  succeeded  Alexander,  wore  the 
tiara  less  than  a  year,  his  successor  being  Julius 
Second,  a  worldly  and  intriguing  churchman,  more 
renowned  for  his  military  ambition  than  for  bis  apos- 
tolic virtues.  The  result  of  his  assumption  of  the 
purple  was  the  inauguration  of  an  unprovoked  and 
desolating  war,  which  soaked  the  sods  of  half  the 

*  D'Aiibigne's  Ilist.  of  the  Eef.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  65.  f  I^itl. 

J  Capello's  MS.    Extracted  by  Ranke  iu  his  Hist,  of  the  Popes. 

Lather.  3 


50  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

continent  in  blood,  simply  to  glut  the  martial  appe- 
tite of  this  atrocious  priest. 

But  the  college  of  Cardinals  took  good  care  that 
the  reign  of  no  one  of  the  pontifis  of  that  age  should 
be  over-long.  Poison  and  the  stiletto  were  con- 
stantly invoked  by  unscrupulous  and  ambitious 
prelates  anxious  to  abridge  for  their  own  benefit  the 
lives  of  the  successors  of  St.  Peter,  while  one  pope 
followed  another  in  rapid  succession,  hurled  from 
the  pontifical  throne  into  a  bloody  and  untimely 
grave. 

If  any  learning  was  found  among  the  clergy,  it 
was  not  in  sacred  literature.  The  faculty  of  theol- 
ogy at  Paris  made  this  declaration  to  the  Parlia- 
ment :  "  Religion  is  ruined,  if  you  permit  the  study 
of  Greek  and  Hebrew."  Heresbach,  a  friend  of, 
Erasmus,  reports  that  the  monks  commonly  held 
that  Greek  and  Hebrew  were  the  nurseries  of  here- 
sy.* A  certain  monk  was  one  day  heard  to  affirm 
that  "  the  New  Testament  is  a  book  full  of  serpents 
and  thorns.  Greek,"  he  continued,  "  is  a  new  and 
recently  invented  language,  and  we  must  be  upon 
our  guard  against  it.  As  for  Hebrew,  my  dear 
brethren,  it  is  certain  that  all  who  learn  it  imme- 
diately become  Jews."t 

The  Ciceronians  of  Italy  affected  a  great  con- 
tempt for  the  Bible  on  account  of  its  style.  Pre- 
tended priests  of  the  church  of  Christ  translated 
the  writings  of  holy  men,  inspired  by  the  S^airit  of 
God,  in  the  style  of  Yirgil  and  of  Horace,  to  accom- 

*  D'Aubign(J.  t  n)i<i. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  51 

modate  their  language  to  tlie  ears  of  polite  soclet3^ 
Cardinal  Bembo,  instead  of  tlie  Holy  GJiosf,  used 
to  write,  the  hreatli  of  the  heavenly  zephyr ;  for  the 
expression,  to  foirjive  sins,  he  substituted,  to  hend 
the  manes  of  the  sovereign  gods ;  and  for  Christ  the 
Son  of  God,  the  impious  pedant  wrote,  Minerva 
sprung  from  tlie  head  of  Jupnter.  Discovering  Sado- 
let  one  day  engaged  in  translating  the  epistle  to 
the  Romans,  Bembo  said  to  'him,  "  Leave  these 
childish  matters;  such  fooleries  do  not  become  a 
sensible  man."^ 

Thus  scarcely  a  vestige  remained  of  the  noble 
simplicity  and  holiness  which  had  given  such  an 
influence  to  the  earlier  Christian  teachers.  Even 
the  boasted  unity  of  the  Roman  church  had  ceased 
to  exist,  save  in  name. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact,  that  the  various  monas- 
tic orders  claimed  support  on  directly  contrary 
principles.  The  order  of  St.  Francis  contended 
that  the  perfection  of  the  Christian  character  could 
only  be  attained  by  the  discipline  of  poverty.  The 
Dominicans  and  others  seemed  to  consider  that  the 
dignity  of  hoHness  could  only  be  supported  by 
princely  revenues,  and  they  accordingly  amassed  as 
much  wealth  as  they  could  gather.f  There  was  no 
unity  of  faith.  The  pope  held  one  thing;  the  vari- 
ous bishops  held  different  tenets,  or  were  open  scof- 
fers; while  the  masses  looked  on  bewildered  and 
aghast. 

*  D'Aubigne.     Felleri,  man.  ined.,  p.  400. 
t  Stebbing's  History  of  the  Reformation. 


52  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Sucli  was  tlie  thin  film  of  that  rotten  ci\ihzation 
beneath  which  the  earthquake  of  the  Reformation 
began  to  heave. 

This  is  a  tame  picture  of  the  scandal  and  the 
infamy  which  had  crept  into  ecclesiasticism,  and 
which  God  commissioned  Martin  Luther  remorse- 
lessly to  expose  and  grandly  to  remedy. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  63 


CHAPTER  IV. 

On  the  morning  of  his  entrance  into  the  mon- 
astery, the  18th  of  July,  1505,  Luther  sat  down  to 
write  his  father  of  the  resolution  he  had  carried  into 
effect,  and  to  beg  his  forgiveness  and  his  blessing. 
He  also  wrote  to  several  of  his  Erfurth  friends,  one 
of  whom  he  requested  to  send  to  his  parents  the 
rings  and  gown  which  he  had  received  from  the  Uni- 
versity upon  being  admitted  to  his  Mastership)  of 
Arts.  This  done,  feeling  the  hold  which  the  world 
stOl  had  upon  him,  and  fearful  of  meeting  the  test 
of  his  father's  venerated  features  grief-stricken  and 
tearful,  he" shut  himself  up  resolutely  in  the  lonely 
seclusion  of  his  cell,  into  which  he  would  allow  none 
but  the  Augustinians  to  enter  for  the  space  of  a 
month.* 

Meantime  his  fellow-students  and  relatives  liter- 
ally beset  and  besieged  the  cloister  for  several  days, 
grieved  even  to  tears  that  a  genius  of  so  high  an 
order  should  be  buried  alive  in  a  monastery,  and 
determined  if  possible  to  regain  him — all  in  vain, 
however,  for  Luther  could  not  even  be  reached,  much 
less  moved. 

Martin's  father  returned  a  written  answer  to  his 
son's  letter,  in  which  he  announced  his  withdrawal 
of  all  favor  and  parental  good-will.  A  few  weeks 
after  this  missive  had  been  dispatched,  the  plague 

*  Miclielet's  "Hist,  of  Luther." 


54  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

carried  two  of  tlie  remaining  sons  of  Jolin  Lutlier  to 
early  grayes.  Being  informed  at  the  saine  time  tliat 
Martin  was  ill,  and  in  danger  of  falling  a  victim  to 
the  dread  disease,  his  fi'iends  urged  him  to  sacrifice 
his  personal  wishes,  and,  bowing  to  the  inevitable, 
give  his  consent  to  his  son's  entrance  into  the 
Augustinian  order.  These  entreaties  at  first  met 
with  a  resolute  refusal ;  but  the  indignant  and  disap- 
pointed father  was  at  length  won  to  hesitate,  and 
finally  to  mutter,  "  Be  it  so.  God  grant  that  he 
may  do  well."* 

Luther,  meantime,  had  laid  aside  his  name  Mar- 
tin, as  was  the  custom  in  cloisters,  and  was  thence- 
forth called  Augustiiiius,  a  change  which  he  after- 
'wards  greatly  abhorred.t 

We  have  seen  that  Lutlier,  at  that  period  of 
shameless  apathy  and  of  general  debauchery,  had 
been  influenced  purely  by  conscientious  motives  in 
assuming  the  livery  of  that  flagitious  church  whose 
iniquities  God  afterwards  appointed  him  so  com- 
pletely to  uncloak.  It  is  certain  that  at  this  time 
he  had  no  predisposition  towards  heresy.  Koman- 
ism  did  not  then  possess  a  more  loyal,  unquestion- 
ing, and  devoted  son.:]:  Indeed  he  half  some  claim 
to  say  with  St.  Paul,  I  was  "  brought  up  at  the  feet 
of  Gamaliel,  and  taught  according  to  the  perfect 
manner  of  the  law  of  the  fatliers."§ 

In  the  comparatively  quiet  and  pure  atmosphere 
of  an  isolated  Thuringian  village,  shut  up  in  a  clois- 

*  Meurer's  Life  of  Luther.  f  Ibid. 

t  Varillas.  §  Acts  22:3. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  55 

ter,  immersed  in  stiid}^  every  moment  occupied  in 
the  manifold  labors  of  liis  novitiate,  Luther  slumber- 
ed in  happy  ignorance  of  the  demoralization  of  the 
Boman  see.  If  occasionally  reports  of  the  disso- 
lute manners  of  the  age,  and  of  the  profligacy  of  the 
priesthood,  penetrated  his  cell,  the  fresh  enthusiasm 
of  the  young  Augustinian  led  him  to  regard  them 
as  the  whisperings  of  malice,  or  as  the  idle  gossip 
of  wicked  scoffers.  Burning  with  a  desire  for  that 
holiness  which  he  then  imagined  could  only  be 
found  amid  the  austerities  of  the  cloister,  he  gave 
himself  completely  up  to  the  full  rigors  of  asceti- 
cism. 

His  monastic  life  was  that  of  a  thorough  hermit. 
Sometimes,  however,  he  alleviated  the  monotony  of 
his  days  by  singing.  He  was  particularly  fond  of 
the  Gregorian  chant;  and  his  greatest  delight  was 
to  find  some  young  chorister  who  would  take  a  part 
with  him  in  chanting  it. 

At  other  times,  he  would  leave  his  cell  at  day- 
break, proceed  into  the  country,  and  at  the  foot  of 
some  tree  familiarize  himself  with  the  forms  of  ex- 
temporaneous preaching  by  expounding  the  word 
of  God  to  the  astounded  shepherds.  Then  he  would 
lie  down  and  chat  with  them,  or  fall  to  sleep,  lulled 
by  their  simple  minstrelsy.* 

But  these  were  the  gala-days  of  the  young  re- 
cluse. Ordmaril}^  his  novitiate  was  one  of  peculiar 
hardship  and  trial.  It  was  customary  with  the 
monks  to  impose  upon  novices  all  the  meaner  drudg- 

*  Audiu's  "  Histoire  dc  Luther." 


56  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

eries  of  monastic  life.  Luther's  superiors,  wllo  liad 
marked  tlie  somewhat  haughty  tendency  of  his 
mind,  thought  it  necessary  to  break  down  the  walls 
of  his  pride;  and  they  accordingly  tried  his  fitness 
for  his  adopted  vocation  in  various  vexatious  w^ays. 
At  the  outset,  poor  Martin  had  not  only  to  officiate 
as  porter,  sexton,  and  servant,  but  he  had  no  sooner 
performed  these  duties  than,  given  scanty  time  for 
study  and  meditation,  he  was  driven  into  the  streets 
to  beg  for  his  order.  One  day  when  he  ventured 
to  request  more  time  for  his  scholarly  and  theo- 
logical pursuits,  this  Latin  was  flung  into  his  ears : 
"  Cum  sacco  ^^er  civitatem"  with  the  bag  througli 
the  town;  "by  mendicancy,  not  by  study,  are  clois- 
ters served  and  enriched." 

This  severity  of  discipline  was  ere  long  some- 
what relaxed,  owing  to  the  intercession  of  the  Er- 
furtli  University,  and  especially  to  the  remon- 
strances of  Dr.  Staupitz,  vicar  of  the  Augustinian 
order,  who,  upon  the  novice's  complaint,  reminded 
the  prior,  on  one  of  his  regular  visits  of  inspection 
to  the  monastery,  that  Luther  was  a  studious  man 
and  a  magister,  and  that  in  consequence  more  time 
ought  to  be  allowed  him  for  study  and  reflection.* 

And  here,  at  the  mention  of  John  Staupitz's 
name,  it  is  fitting  to  turn  aside  for  a  moment,  for 
the  purpose  of  quoting  D'Aubign6's  sketch  of  this 
amiable  and  worthy  vicar,  who  played  so  large  a  part 
in  the  introductory  scenes  of  Luther's  life. 

*'  The  gloomy  walls  of  the  cloisters  often  conceal- 
*  Meurer'e  Life  of  Luther. 


or  MAKTIN  LUTHER.  57 

ed  the  most  abominable  vices,  that  would  have  made 
every  upright  mind  shudder;  but  often,  also,  they 
hid  Christian  virtues  that  had  expanded  there  in 
silence,  and  which,  had  they  been  exposed  to  the 
eyes  of  the  world,  would  have  excited  universal  ad- 
miration. The  possessors  of  these  virtues,  living 
only  with  themselves  and  with  God,  attracted  no 
attention,  and  were  often  unknown  to  the  modest 
convent  in  which  they  were  enclosed :  their  lives 
were  known  only  to  God.  Sometimes  these  humble 
solitaires  fell  into  that  mystic  theology — sad  disease 
of  the  noblest  minds — which  in  earlier  ages  had  been 
the  delight  of  the  first  monks  on  the  banks  of  the 
Nile,  and  which  unprofitably  consumes  the  souls  of 
those  who  become  its  victims. 

"Yet  if  one  of  these  men  Avas  called  to  high 
station,  he  there  disj)layed  virtues  whose  salutary 
influence  was  long  and  widely  felt.  The  candle 
was  set  on  a  candlestick,  and  it  illumined  the  whole 
house.  Many  were  awakened  by  this  light.  Thus 
fi'om  generation  to  generation  were  these  pious 
souls  propagated ;  they  were  seen  shining  like  iso- 
lated torches  at  the  very  times  when  the  cloisters 
were  often  little  other  than  impure  receptacles  of 
the  deepest  darkness. 

"  A  young  man  had  been  thus  distinguished  in 
one  of  the  German  convents.  His  name  was  John 
Staupitz,  and  he  was  descended  from  a  noble  Mis- 
nian  family.  From  his  tenderest  youth  he  had  had 
a  taste  for  knowledge  and  a  love  of  virtue.  He  soon 
discovered  that  philosophy  and  the  study  of  nature 

3* 


58  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

could  not  do  inncli  towards  eternal  salvation.  He 
therefore  began  to  study  divinity;  but  especially 
endeavored  to  unite  practice  witli  knowledge.  'For,' 
said  one  ^f  his  biographers,  'it  is  in  vain  that  we 
assume  the  title  of  divine,  if  we  do  not  confirm  that 
noble  title  by  our  lives.'*  The  study  of  the  Bible 
and  of  the  Augustine  theology,  the  knowledge  of 
himself,  the  battles  that  he,  like  Luther,  had  to  fight 
against  the  deceits  and  lusts  of  his  heart,  led  him 
to  the  Redeemer.  He  found  peace  to  his  soul  in 
faith  in  Christ.  The  doctrine  of  election  hj  grace 
had  taken  strong  hold  of  his  mind.  The  integrity 
of  his  hfe,  the  extent  of  his  knowledge,  the  eloquence 
of  his  speech,  not  less  than  a  striking  exterior  and 
dignified  manners,t  recommended  him  to  his  con- 
temporaries. 

"Frederic  the  Wise,  Elector  of  Saxony,  made 
him  his  friend,  employed  him  in  various  embassies, 
and  founded  the  University  of  Wittemberg  under 
his  direction.  This  disciple  of  St.  Paul  and  St. 
Augustine  was  the  first  dean  of  the  theological 
faculty  of  that  school  whence  the  light  was  one  day 
to  issue  to  illumine  the  schools  and  churches  of  so 
many  nations.  He  was  present  at  the  Lateran 
Council  as  proxy  of  the  archbishop  of  Saltzburg, 
became  provincial  of  his  order  in  Thuriugia  and 
Saxony,  and  afterwards  vicar-general  of  the  Augus- 
tines  of  all  Germany. 

"  Staupitz  was  grieved  at  the  corruption  of  morals 

*  Melch.  Adam,  Vita  Staupizii. 

■|  "Corporis  forma  atquc  statura  con.spiciuis."     Cochlcexis,  3. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  59 

and  the  errors  of  doctrine  that  were  devastating 

O 

tlie  clinrcli.  But  the  mildness  and  indecision  of  his 
character,  his  desire  not  to  go  beyond  the  sphere 
of  action  he  thought  assigned  to  him,  made  him 
fitter  to  be  the  restorer  of  a  convent  than  the  re- 
former of  the  church."*  • 

Suich  was  John  Staupitz  at  the  period  of  his 
memorable  visit  to  the  Erfurth  monastery,  when 
he  discovered  Martin  Luther  sad  and  broken  by 
conventual  rigor,  and  felt  himself  irresistibly  drawn 
towards  the  sombre  and  agitated  novice. 

After  administering  to  his  remarkable  young 
brother  all  the  consolation  possible,  Staupitz  advis- 
ed him  above  all  things  to  study  the  Holy  Scriptures, 
and  to  gain  a  local  knowledge  of  them;  counsel 
which  Luther  followed  with  such  success  as  to  cause 
the  jricar-general  to  marvel,  and  in  consequence  to 
prefer  his  company  to  that  of  all  others.t 

Although,  as  we  have  seen,  Luther's  father  had 
given  a  reluctant  consent  to  his  son's  entrance  into 
the  cloister,  it  was  not  until  the  term  of  Martin's 
novitiate  was  ended,  two  full  years  after  his  flight 
fi"om  the  university  to  the  monastery,  that  the  miner 
could  be  persuaded  to  promise  to  be  present  at  the 
ceremony  which  was  to  snatch  his  son  for  ever  from 
the  world,  and  give  him  wholly  to  the  service  of  the 
heavenly  King. 

At  length,  however,  he  consented  to  this  also, 
and  a  day  was  selected  for  the  ceremony  on  which 

*  D'Aubigne's  Hist,  of  the  Eef.,  Vol.  1.,  pp.  172-4. 
t  Mcurcr's  Life  of  Luther. 


60  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

the  miner  could  conyeniently  quit  liis  business. 
Accordingly  on  Sunday,  the  2d  of  May,  1507,  the 
elder  Luther  came  to  Erfurth,  accompanied  by  sev- 
eral friends,  taking  with  him  some  twenty  florins, 
savings  Avhicli  he  had  managed  to  put  by ;  and  these 
he  gave  to  the  Son  whom  he  was  about  to  lose.* 

On  the  same  day  the  ceremony  of  Luther's*  ordi- 
nation as  a  priest  occurred.  Jerome,  bishop  of 
Brandenburg,  officiated.  Luther  long  afterwards 
thus  referred  to  the  occasion :  "  As  he  instituted 
me  a  priest,  and  placed  the  chalice  in  my  hand,  he 
spoke  these  very  words:  ' Accipe  jjotestatem  sacrifi- 
candi  pro  vivis  et  mortuis.'''\  That  the  earth  did  not 
then  swallow  us  both  up,  was  an  instance  of  the 
patience  and  long-suffering  of  the  Lord." 

Luther  trembled  greatly  when  he  ascended  the 
altar;  at  the  canon  he  was  seized  with  such  /ear 
that  he  would  have  fled  without  completing  the 
ceremony,  had  he  not  been  detained.:]; 

At  length,  however,  all  was  finished,  and  the 
young  priest  sat  down  with  his  friends  to  dinner. 
John  Luther  sat  by  his  son,  who  had  hoped  to  hear 
from  his  father's  lips  expressions  of  joy  and  con- 
gratulation. "  My  dear .  father,"  said  he  at  last, 
"  why  are  you  so  sad  ?  why  should  you  regret  my 
assuming  the  monk's  robe  ?  It  is  a  becoming  gown, 
is  it  not?"     The  father  rose,  and  addressing  the 

*  Micbelet's  Life  of  Liither.  D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Ref- 
ormation. 

t  "  Receive  the  i)ower  to  offer  sacrifice  for  the  living  and  the 
dead." 

t  Pfizer's  "  Liither's  Leben. " 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  61 

company,  said,  "  Is  it  not  Avritten  in  the  word  of 
God  tliat  a  man  slionld  honor  his  father  and  his 
mother  ?"  "  It  is,"  rej)Hed  aU.  John  Lnther  looked 
expressively  at  his  son;  then  resuming  his  seat, 
relapsed  into  gloomy  silence.  The  rest  began  to 
talk  of  indifferent  matters,  when  suddenly  the  miner 
exclaimed,  "Pray  heaven  this  whole  ceremony  be 
not  a  snare  of  the  devil."* 

Luther  felt  at  this  time  no  peculiar  rehgious  fer- 
vor. "  When  I  said  my  first  mass  at  Erfurtli,"  he 
remarks,  "  I  was  well-nigh  dead,  for  I  had  no  faith. 
My  only  notion  about  myself  Avas,  that  I  was  a  very 
worthy  person  indeed.  I  did  not  regard  myself  as 
a  sinner  at  all.  The  first  mass  was  a  striking  thing, 
and  produced  a  great  deal  of  money.  They  brought 
in  the  Tioras  canonicas,  surrounded  by  large  flam- 
beaux. The  dear  young  lord,  as  the  peasants  used 
to  call  their  new  pastor,  had  then  to  dance  with  his 
mother,  if  she  were  still  alive,  the  spectators  all 
weeping  tears  of  joy ;  if  she  were  dead,  he  put  her, 
as  the  phrase  ran,  under  the  chalice,  and  saved  her 
from  purgatory,  "t 

Luther  having  now  taken  the  irrevocable  step, 
having  become  a  priest — all  being  accomplished, 
and  the  door  of  the  world  closed  upon  him,  all  exit 
cut  off — fell  a  prey,  not  to  regret,  but  to  sadness, 
to  j)erplexities,  to  temptations  of  the  flesh,  to  the 
mischievous  shafts  and  subtleties  of  Satan.  "  We 
of  the  present  day,"  says  Michelet,  "  can  hardly 
comprehend  this  rude  strife  of  a  solitary  soul.     We 

*  Pfizev's  "Luther's  Lebcn."  f  Tisehrt'den,  p.  281. 


02  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

keep  our  passions  more  in  order,  or  rather,  we  kill 
them  at  the  birth.  Amid  our  enervating  distrac- 
tion of  business,  of  facile  studies  and  enjoyments, 
our  precocious  satiety  of  the  senses  and  of  the  mind, 
we  can  scarcel}^  place  ourselves  en  rapport  with  the 
spiritual  warfare  which  the  lonely  conventuaHsts  of 
the  middle  ages  waged  with  themselves  and  with 
the  dolorous  mysteries  of  a  life  of  abstinence  and 
fanatic  dreamings — the  infinite  hard  fights  that 
have  been  fought,  noiselessly  and  unrecorded,  in 
the  monk's  dark,  narrow  cell."* 

In  all  his  doubts  and  misgivings,  Luther  found 
in  Dr.  Staupitz  a  wise  counsellor  and  a  sympathiz- 
ing friend.  He  had  himself  fought  to  some  extent 
the  same  intellectual  battle ;  years  of  trial  and  suf- 
fering had  familiarized  him  with  the  plenteous  mer- 
cies of  the  great  Consoler,  and  he  could  cry  under- 
standingly,  "Thanks  be  unto  God,  who  givetli  us 
the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ^ 

Keligious  Hberty  owes  much  to  Staupitz  for  his 
nurture  of  Luther  at  this  crisis.  Watching  with 
the  tenderest  solicitude  the  rehgious  infancy  of 
the  young  monk,  the  good  vicar  taught  him  also 
where  to  look  for  the  benediction  which  should 
soothe  his  troubled  heart.  He  constantly  enjoined 
upon  his  young  brother  to  look  above  the  formu- 
las, the  ceremonies,  and  the  empty  prayers  of  the 
church — outside  that  letter  of  the  law  which  kills, 
to  the  Saviour  "who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the 
world." 

*  Michelet's  Life  of  Luther. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  63 

"When  I  was  a  monk,"  says  Luther,  "I  fre- 
quently corresponded  with  Dr.  Stanpitz.  Once  I 
wrote  to  him,  '  Oh  my  sins,  my  sins,  my  sins !' 
Wheremito  he  replied,  'You  would  fain  be  Avithout 
sin.  You  have  no  right  sin,  such  as  murdering  of 
parents,  blaspheming,  adultery,  and  the  like.  Tliou 
hadst  better  keep  a  register  of  right  and  true  sins, 
that  so  thou  mayest  not  afflict  th3\self  about  small 
matters.  Kemember  that  Christ  came  hither  to 
pardon  our  sins."* 

Luther  did  not  find  peace  from  this  counsel. 
Often  was  he  seen  at  the  foot  of  the  altar,  his  hands 
clasped,  his  ejes  full  of  tears  raised  towards  lieay- 
en,  earnestly  beseeching  pardon  for  his  sins.  Fre- 
quently, on  returning  to  his  cell  for  the  night,  he 
would  kneel  at  the  foot  of  his  bed,  and  remain  there 
in  praj^er  till  daylight.f 

Sometimes  his  questions  went  too  deep  for  Stau- 
pitz  to  answer.  "  I  often,"  he  says,  "  confessed  to 
Dr.  Staupitz,  and  put  to  him,  not  trivial  matters, 
but  questions  going  to  the  very  knot  of  the  matter. 
He  assured  me,  as  all  other  confessors  have  assured 
me,  '  I  do  not  iinder stand.'  At  last  he  came  to  me 
one  day  when  I  was  at  dinner,  and  said,  '  How  is  it 
that  you  are  so  sad,  brother  Martin  ?'  '  Ah,'  I  re- 
plied, '  I  am  sad  indeed.'  '  You  know  not,'  said  he, 
'that  sucli  trials  are  good  and  necessary  for  you, 
but  would  not  be  so  for  any  one  else.'  All  he  meant 
to  imply  was,  that  as  I  had  some  learning,  I  might, 
but  for  these  trials,  have  become  haughty  and  super- 

*  Tisclircdeu.  f  Pfizer's  "Liitlier's  Leben." 


Oi  THE'LIFE  AND  TIMES 

cilious ;  but  I  liave  felt  since  that  what  he  said  was, 
as  it  were,  a  voice  and  an  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Spirit."* 

Meantime  these  mental  struggles  wore  terribly 
upon  the  physique  of  the  agitated  monk.  One  morn- 
ing, the  door  of  his  ceil  not  being  opened  as  usual, 
the  brethren  became  alarmed.  They  knocked ;  there 
was  no  answer.  The  door  was  then  burst  in,  and 
poor  Martin  was  found  stretched  on  the  ground 
in  a  kind  of  ecstasy,  scarcely  breathing,  well-nigh 
dead.  A  monk  taking  up  his  flute,  played  gently 
upon  it  one  of  those  airs  which  Luther  loved,  and 
thus  brought  him  gradually  back  to  his  senses.t 

His  trials  at  one  time  reduced  him  to  such  a 
state  that  for  a  whole  fortnight,  he  assures  us,  he 
neither  ate,  drank,  nor  slept. 

"Ah,"  he  says,  "if  St.  Paul  were  alive  now,  how 
glad  I  should  be  to  learn  of  himself  what  sort  of 
temptation  it  was  that  he  underwent.  It  was  not 
the  tliora  in  the  flesh  ;  it  was  not  the  worthy  Thecla, 
as  the  Papists  dream.  Oh  no,  it  was  not  a  sin  that 
tore  his  conscience.  It  was  something  higher  than 
despair  resulting  from  the  sense  of  sin ;  it  was  rather 
the  temptation  of  which  the  Psalmist  speaks:  'My. 
God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?'  as 
though  the  Psalmist  would  have  said,  '  Thou  art  my 
enemy  without  cause ;'  and  with  Job,  '  Yet  I  am 
innocent,  nor  is  iniquity  in  me.'  I  am  sure  that 
the  book  of  Job  is  a  true  history,  of  which  a  poem 

*  Luther's  "Table  Talk." 

f  Seckeudorf  "s  History  of  Lntherauism. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  65 

was  afterwards  made.  Jerome  and  other  fathers 
never  experienced  such  trials.  They  underwent 
none  but  trivial  temptations,  those  of  the  flesh,  which 
indeed  have  quite  enough  pains  of  their  own  accom- 
panying them.  Augustine,  and  Ambrose  too,  had 
trials,  and  trembled  before  the  sword ;  but  this  is 
as  nothing  compared  with  the  angel  of  Satan,  lulio 
strikes  ivith  tJieJists." 

"  "When  I  was  young,"  he  wi'ites  again,  "  it  hap- 
pened that  I  was  taking  part,  in  my  priest's  habit, 
in  a  procession  on  Corpus  Christi  day,  at  Eisleben. 
All  at  once  the  sight  of  the  holy  sacrament,  borne 
by  Dr.  Staupitz,  so  terrified  me,  that  I  perspired  at 
every  pore,  and  tho.ught  I  should  die  with  fear. 
When  the  procession  was  over  I  confessed  to  Dr. 
Staupitz,  and  related  what  had  happened  to  me. 
He  replied,  'Thy  thoughts  are  not  according  to 
Christ.  Christ  does  not  terrify;  he  consoles.'  These 
words  filled  me  with  joy,  and  were  a  great  relief  to 
my  mind."* 

At  another  time  Luther  remarked  to  Dr.  Stau- 
pitz, "Ah,  my  dear  doctor,  our  Lord  God  acts  in 
an  awful  manner  towards  us.  Who  can  serve  him, 
if  he  thus  strikes  all  around  him  ?"  To  which  the 
vicar  replied,  "  My  son,  learn  to  form  a  better  judg- 
ment of  God.  If  he  were  not  to  act  thus,  how  could 
he  overcome  the  headstrong  and  the  wilful?  He 
must  take  care  of  the  tall  trees,  lest  they  ascend  to 
heaven,  "t 

It  was  now  that  the  self-righteous  citadel  of 
*  Luther's  "Table  Talk."  f  Tiscliredeu,  p.  150. 


66  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Luther's  heart  was  carried  by  storm.  He  learned 
to  appreciate  and  to  accept  the  doctrine  oi  justifica- 
tion hy  faith,  in  contradistinction  from  the  ethical 
system  of  Aristotle,  then  universally  in  vogue,  which 
inculcated  the  old  Pagan  idea,  which  Socrates  taught 
two  thousand  years  ago  in  the  streets  of  Athens,  of 
an  ideal  morality,  and  which  Luther  had  imbibed 
at  the  schools.  But  from  this  time  Luther  held  to 
the  grace  of  God  as  the  sheet-anchor  of  his  hope. 

Still  it  will  hardly  be  imagined,  from  what  has 
preceded,  that  Luther  was  remiss  in  his  observance 
of  the  peculiar  rites  of  the  monastery.  "  If,"  said 
he,  "Augustine  went  straight  to  heaven  from  the 
walls  of  an  abbey,  I  too  ought  to  do  so:  all  my 
brethren  will  bear  me  this  testimony.  I  fasted,  I 
watched,  I  mortified,  I  practised  all  the  cenobite 
severities,  till  I  absolutely  made  myself  ill."  Again 
he  says,  "If  there  was  e\<iv  any  one  under  the 
papacy,  before  the  gospel  again  was  brought  to 
light,  who  truly  esteemed  the  traditions  of  the  pope 
and  of  the  fathers,  and  contended  for  them  with 
unfeigned  ardor,  I  may  say  that  I  did  so  especially ; 
contending  for  them  with  great  earnestness  and 
sincerity,  and  defending  them  as  if  they  had  been 
holiness  itself."  Once  more  he  "oiites,  "I  was  a 
pious  monk,  and  so  strictly  observed  the  rules  of  my 
order,  that  I  can  declare  that  if  ever  a  monk  by 
monastic  exercises  obtained  salvation,  I  would  have 
obtained  it  too.  In  this,  all  my  monastic  associates 
who  knew  me  will  bear  me  witness;  for  if  I  had 
continued  longer,  I  would  have  tormented  myself 


OF   MARTIN  LUTHER.  67 

to  death  by  keeping  vigils,  saying  prayers,  by  read- 
ing, and  by  other  works." 

Lnther  had  some  difficulty  in  supporting  the  ob- 
ligations imposed  upon  him  by  the  monastic  regula- 
tions. It  will  be  readily  understood  how  heavily 
they  must  have  weighed  upon  an  energetic  and 
impetuous  temperament  like  his.  "  If  I  had  done 
.nothing,"  he  said  in  the  twilight  of  his  life,  "  but 
relieve  men  from  this  tj'ranny,  they  would  owe  me 
a  large  debt  of  gratitude."  This  constant  repeti- 
tion, at  a  fixed  hour,  of  the  same  meditations,  this 
mechanization  of  prayer,  which  weighed  so  heavily 
u])on  the  impatient  mind  of  Luther,  his  contempo- 
rary, Ignatius  Loyola,  endeavored  a  little  later  to 
exalt  into  still  greater  honor  by  his  singular  "  Ee- 
l  ig  ioi  I s  Exe )  'cises . ' ' " 

But  in  1507,  the  future  colossus  of  the  Keforma- 
tion  bade  fair  to  become  one  of  the  chief  pillars  of 
the  temple  of  Romanism.  The  traits  which  are 
most  prominent  in  his  cloister  life,  are  his  stout  de- 
fence of  the  minutest  and  most  ludicrous  trifles  of 
his  creed,  his  rigid  adherence  to  the  papal  decretals, 
his  monastic  obedience,  his  deference  to  his  eccle- 
siastical superiors,  and  his  remorseless  asceticism — 
characteristics  as  rare  in  the  rotten  morals  of  that 
epoch,  as  they  were  honorable  to  the  honesty  and 
convictions  of  the  recluse  monk. 

Indeed  the  flaming  zeal,  the  manifold  labors,  the 
submissive  spirit,  and  the  tireless  energy  of  Luther 
at  this  time,  would  have  called  forth  the  entliusias- 
*  Mifhelet's  Life  of  Li\tlicr,  i>.  9.     Sec  note. 


68  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

tic  encomiums  of  the  most  rigorous  ascetic  that  ever 
trod  barefoot  the  sands  of  the  Syrian  deserts,  made 
proselytes  in  the  depths  of  the  Peruvian  mines,  or 
taught  in  barbarous  tongues  on  the  shores  of  the 
Spice  islands,  and  at  the  marts  of  the  African  slave 
caravans.  Gian  Pietro  Caraffa  would  have  welcom- 
ed him  as  a  brother  and  an  equal,  and  Ignatius 
Loyola  would  have  gotten  from  him  brave  help  in 
the  organization  of  that  protean  propaganda,  the 
"  Society  of  Jesus." 

It  now  becomes  of  interest  to  the  student  of 
Luther's  life,  to  trace  some  of  the  causes  which 
served  to  awaken  the  young  cenobite  from  his  dream 
of  monastic  piety,  and  which  opened  his  eyes  to  the 
true  nature  of  the  ecclesiastical  polit}^  whose  inter- 
ests he  so  blindly  struggled  to  advance. 

And  in  the  first  place,  there  was  an  inner  fact 
which  troubled  Luther.  He  "  did  not  find,  in  the 
tranquillity  of  the  cloister  and  in  monkish  perfection, 
that  peace  of  mind  which  he  had  looked  for  there. 
He  wished  to  have  the  assurance  of  salvation :  this 
was  the  great  want  of  his  soul.  Without  it  there 
was  no  repose  for  him.  But  the  fears  that  had  agi- 
tated him  in  the  world  pursued  him  to  his  cell :  nay, 
they  were  increased.  The  faintest  cry  of  his  heart 
reechoed  loud  beneath  the  silent  arches  of  the  clois- 
ter. God  had  sent  him  thither  that  he  might  learn 
to  know  himself,  and  to  despair  of  his  own  strength 
and  virtue.  His  conscience,  enlightened  by  the 
divine  word,  told  him  what  it  Avas  to  be  holy;  but 
he  was  filled  with  terror  at  finding  neither  in  his 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  69 

heart  nor  in  liis  life,  that  image  of  hoHness  which 
he  had  contemplated  with  admiration  in  the  word 
of  God.  A  sad  discovery,  and  one  that  is  made  by 
every  sincere  man.  No  righteousness  within,  no 
righteousness  without;  all  was  omission,  sin,  im- 
purity."* 

The  monks  and  divines  of  the  day  encouraged 
him  to  satisfy  the  divine  requirements  by  meritori- 
ous works.  But  his  letters  written  from  the  cloister 
show  that  he  was  sad  and  dejected  from  the  very 
outset,  getting  no  consolation  from  the  pater-nosters, 
the  ceaseless  vigils,  and  the  physical  mortifications 
prescribed  for  penitents  by  the  formulas  of  Komau- 
ism,  and  pronounced  so  efficacious  by  the  possessors 
of  the  forged  keys  of  St.  Peter. 

Proving  their  inefficacy  by  his  own  bitter  expe- 
rience, he  eventually  became  suspicious  of  their 
potency  in  other  cases.  This  reflection  unquestion- 
ably gave  Luther  great  anxiety  and  deep  distress 
long  before  he  formally  broke  the  fetters  which 
bound  him  to  the  pontifical  throne. 

In  seeking  for  the  exterior  and  more  perceptible 
causes  which  influenced  the  mind  and  action  of  the 
nascent  reformer,  it  will  be  necessary  to  recur  once 
more  to  history,  and  to  recite  the  several  ecclesias- 
tical abuses  which  first  engrossed  his  attention,  and 
provoked  the  thunders  of  his  dissenting  eloquence. 

*  D'Aubigne's  Hist,  of  the  Eef.,  Vol.  1,  p.  169. 


70  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTER  V. 

In  1502,  Frederic,  Elector  of  Saxony,  surnamed 
the  Wise,  founded  at  Wittemberg  tlie  celebrated 
university  witliin  whose  cloisters  the  Reformation 
was  born. 

Tliis  humane  and  enlightened  prince,  who  was 
born  at  Torgau  in  the  year  1463,  had  succeeded  his 
father  Ernest  in  the  electorate  in  1486,  when  in  his 
twenty-fourth  year,  though  he  shared  a  di^dded 
throne — his  brother,  Duke  John  of  Saxony,  par- 
ticijDating  with  him  in  the  government  of  his  do- 
minions. 

Although  Frederic  never  openly  accepted  the 
tenets  of  the  Reformation,  he  frequently  bent  from 
his  throne  to  succor  and  defend  the  menaced  re- 
formers, who  in  return  gratefully  bestowed  upon  him 
the  magnificent  but  then  dangerous  appellation  of 
"Protector  of  the  Reformation." 

He  had,  some  years  previous  to  the  foundation 
of  the  University  of  Wittemberg,  contracted  an 
intimate  friendship  with  John  Staupitz.  When 
Frederic  determined  upon  the  establishment  of  his 
school,  he  selected  Dr.  Staupitz,  and  another  dis- 
tinguished opponent  of  the  prevailing  scholastic 
system,  PoUich  de  Mellerstadt,  doctor  of  medicine, 
law,  and  philosophy,  and  charged  them  with  the 
arrangement  of  its  details. 

Staupitz, being  especially  anxious  to  promote 


or  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  71 

the  study  of  religions  pliilosophy  in  tlie  new  Uni- 
versity— so  that  it  shonkl  become  indeed  what  the 
Elector,  in  his  charter  confirming  its  privileges,  had 
declared  that  he  and  his  subjects  would  alv/ays  re- 
gard it,  an  oracle — familiar  with  Luther's  earnest 
piety,  rhetorical  ability,  profound  scholarship,  and 
brilliant  genius,  determined  to  seat  the  young  Angus - 
tinian  in  the  chair  of  metaphysics. 

Accordingly  in  the  latter  part  of  1508,  Frederic 
sent  a  missive  to  Luther  inviting  him  to  assume  the 
professorial  gown  at  his  University  of  Wittemberg, 
and  enjoining  upon  him  to  make  all  haste  in  repair- 
ing to  his  post,  should  he  accept  the  appointment. 

Instantly  deciding  to  comply  with  this  request, 
he  quitted  his  monastery  so  hastily  that  he  had  not 
even  time  to  acquaint  his  most  intimate  friends  with 
this  great  change  in  his  life. 

Writing  several  months  later  from  Wittemberg 
to  his  well-beloved  master,  John  Braun,  curate  of 
Eisenach,  he  says,  "  My  departure  was  so  hasty  that 
those  with  whom  I  was  living  were  almost  ignorant 
of  it.  I  am  further  away,  I  confess,  but  the  better 
part  of  me  remains  with  you.""'"' 

Ignoring  the  artificial  systems  of  the  schoolmen, 
unperplexed  by  the  sophistical  babble  of  the  philos- 
ophers, Luther  had  made  in  the  dreamy  quiet  of 
his  cloister  rapid  progress  in  the  study  of  divinity. 
He  had  acquired  during  his  three  years'  residence 
in  the  monastery  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the 
Greek  and  Hebrew  tongues.     He  had  previously 

*  Epp.  I,  p.  5.     March  17,  1509., 


72  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

met  and  mastered  the  cavilling  dialectics  of  the  age, 
and  the  ethics  of  Aristotle;  and  he  had  recently 
been  engaged  in  the  still  more  difficult  task  of 
attempting  to  reconcile  the  subtle  sophistries  of  the 
Eoman  see  with  the  word  of  God. 

Probably  no  theologian  of  the  age  received  a 
more  careful  and  elaborate  preparatory  training.  It 
is  certain  that  his  theological  course  was  singularly 
broad,  thorough,  and  complete. 

Thus  naturally  and  educationally  biased  tow- 
ards theology,  Luther  declared  that  he  would  greatly 
have  preferred  to  fill  that  chair  at  the  University; 
but  since  it  seemed  ordered  otherwise,  he  was  forced 
to  acquiesce. 

The  universities  of  that  age  were  customarily 
connected  with  some  one  of  the  various  monastic 
orders,  and  the  monks  were  the  instructors  of  the 
students  who  resorted  to  them.  Frederic  had  se- 
lected St.  Augustine  as  the  patron  of  the  Wittem- 
berg  school,  and  it  was  therefore  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  Augustinians.  Luther,  as  a  priest,  was 
not  suffered  on  account  of  his  professorship  to  relax 
the  austere  discipline  of  his  order ;  but,  inhabiting  a 
cell  as  at  Erfurth,  occupied  his  leisure  hours  as  be- 
fore, in  practising  all  the  mummeries  of  the  Koman 
ritual. 

Luther  seized  every  moment  which  he  could 
spare  from  his  university  duties,  and  from  the  exer- 
cise of  his  monastic  forms,  to  devote  to  private  study, 
and  applied  himseK  with  special  zeal  and  success 
to  the  perfect  acquisition  of  the  ancient  languages, 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  73 

particularly  Greek  and  Hebrew.  He  Avas  all  Lis  life 
indefatigable  in  labor."  His  studies  weaned  him 
more  and  more  from  tlie  superficial  ethics  of  Roman- 
ism," and  taught  him  to  lean  upon  the  oracles  of 
the  living  God. 

In  the  March  of  1509,  the  theological  degree  of 
Baccalaureus  tanquam  ad  Bihlia  was  conferred  upon 
the  young  professor,  with  the  special  summons  *to 
devote  himself  to  biblical  theology.f 

Every  day,  at  one  in  the  afternoon,  Luther  was 
called  to  lecture  to  the  students  on  the  Bible — a 
precious  hour  both  for  the  j)rofessor  and  his  pupils, 
and  which  led  them  dee23er  and  deeper  into  the 
divine  meaning  of  those  revelations  so  long  lost  to 
the  people  and  to  the  schools. 'J: 

Very  early  in  this  course  of  biblidlil  lectures, 
Luther  attacked  with  remarkable  skill  and  power 
the  cumbersome  and  artificial  system  of  unbelief, 
superstition,  and  vain  speculations  which  then  re- 
ceived universal  credence,  and  which  was  styled  the 
"  scholastic  theology  " — a  system  of  ethics  which  was 
derived  partly  from  the  mystic  writings  of  the  me- 
diaeval schoolmen,  and  partly  from  the  pagan  philos- 
ophy of  Aristotle.  The  Wittemberg  professor  boldly 
proclaimed  that  the  writings  of  the  prophets  and 
apostles,  as  proceeding  from  God  himself,  were  infi- 
nitely more  profound  and  certain  than  the  empty 

*  lu  stmliis  literarum,  corpore  ac  meute  iudefessus.     Pallavi- 
cini,  Hist.  Cone.  Trident.,  Vol.  1,  p.  IG. 

t  D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Eefofmatiou,  Vol.  I.,  j).  186. 
X  Ibid. 


74  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

babble  of  the  heathen  philosophers,  or  than  the  later 
sophistries  of  conceited  schoolmen. 

Singular  as  it  may  now  appear,  this  plain  and 
unquestionable  truth  excited  the  indignant  surprise 
and  dissent  of  the  papal  theologians  of  that  genera- 
tion, and  the  epithet  "  heretic  "  was  hurled  at  the 
audacious  monk  from  countless  pulpits. 

These  doctrines,  so  new  and  startling,  made 
f]-om  the  outset  a  great  noise,  and  attracted  to  the 
newlj  established  university  a  crowd  of  students. 
Indeed  "  Luther's  lectures,  thus  prepared,  had  lit- 
tle similarity  to  what  had  been  heard  till  then.  It 
was  not  an  eloquent  rhetorician  alone,  or  a  pedan- 
tic schoolman,  that  spoke,  but  a  Christian  who 
had  felt  the  power  of  revealed  truths — who  drew 
them  froni*^the  Bible,  poured  them  out  from  the 
treasures  of  his  heart,  and  presented  them  all  full 
of  life  to  his  astonished  hearers.  It  was  not  the 
teaching  of  a  man,  but  of  God."* 

This  brave  preaching,  though  receiving  the  exe- 
crations of  the  apostles  of  scholasticism,  still  called 
several  eminent  thinkers  to  the  side  of  the  young 
Augustinian ;  among  others.  Dr.  Mellerstadt,  first 
rector  of  the  university,  who  had  already  at  Leipsic 
combated  the  ridiculous  instructions  of  the  scholas- 
tics, and  who  used  frequently  to  say,  after  listening 
attentively  to  one  of  Luther's  discourses,  "  This 
monk  will  confound  all  our  doctors,  establish  new 
doctrines,  and  reform  the  whole  Roman  church ;  for 
he  bases  himself  upon  the  writings  of  the  projDhets 
*  P'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Befonuation,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  18G,  187. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  75 

and  apostles,  and  is  firmly  planted  on  the  word  of 
God  :  this  no  one  can  successfully  oppose  or  event- 
ually subvert,  be  it  with  philosophy,  sophistry, 
albertistry,  thomastry,  or  the  whole  array  of  au- 
thorities."* 

Dr.  Staupitz,  "  who  was  the  instrument  of  God 
to  develop  many  of  the  gifts  and  treasures  hidden 
in  Luther,"  remarking  the  singular  eloquence  of  the 
young  monk,  his  mastery  over  the  passions  of  his 
auditors,  his  felicitous  acquaintance  with  the  strong 
idioms  and  with  the  elegancies  of  his  native  tongue, 
and  the  overpowering  energy  of  his  oratory,  insist- 
ed upon  his  preaching  regularly  in  the  village  chapel 
of  the  Augustinians. 

Luther,  solemnly  impressed  with  the  august  na- 
ture of  that  work,  long  refused  to  comply  with  this 
request  of  the  vicar-general  of  his  order. 

"  Ascend  the  pulj)it  and  preach,"  said  Staupitz, 
"No,"  said  the  modest  professor,  "it  is  no  light 
thing  to  speak  to  man  in  God's  stead."t  Staupitz 
insisted.  "Fifteen  arguments,  pretexts,  or  eva- 
sions,", reports  a  contemporary,  "  did  the  ingenious 
Lu,ther  find  to  excuse  himself  from  this  service." 
"  Ah,  worthy  doctor,"  he  supplicated,  "  it  would  be 
the  death  of  me."  "  What  then  ?"  was  the  response ; 
"  be  it  so,  in  God's  name.":}:  The  pertinacity  of  his 
ecclesiastical  superior  at  length  triumphed,  and  the 
over-humble  monk  began  to  preach. 

*  Meurer's  Life  of  Luther. 

t  Milner,  Maimbourg,  Varillas,  Dii  Pin. 

X  Adam's  "Words  that  Shook  the  World,"  p.  29. 


76  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

In  the  middle  of  the  square  at  Wittemberg  stood 
an  ancient  wooden  chapel,  thirty  feet  long  and 
twenty  wide,  whose  walls,  propped  up  on  all  sides, 
were  falling  into  ruin.  An  old  pulpit,  made  of 
planks,  and  three  feet  high,  received  the  preacher. 
It  was  in  this  wretched  place  that  the  preaching  of 
the  Reformation  began.  The  foundations  of  the 
new  Augustinian  church  had  just  been  laid,  and  in 
the  meanwhile  this  miserable  place  of  worship  was 
used." 

"  This  building,"  adds  Myconius,  "  may  well  be 
compared  to  the  stable  in  which  Christ  was  born. 
It  was  in  this  wretched  enclosure  that  God  willed, 
so  to  speak,  that  his  well-beloved  Son  should  be 
born  a  second  time.  Among  those  thousands  of 
cathedrals  and  j)arish  churches  with  which  the  world 
is  filled,  there  was  not  one  at  that  time  which  God 
chose  for  the  glorious  preaching  of  eternal  life."t 

"  Every  thing  was  striking  in  the  new  minister. 
His  expressive  countenance,  his  noble  air,  his  clear 
and  sonorous  voice,  captivated  all  his  hearers.  Be- 
fore-this  time,  the  majority  of  preachers  had  sought 
rather  what  might  amuse  their  congregations,  than 
what  would  convert  them.  The  great  seriousness 
that  pervaded  all  Luther's  sermons,  and  the  joy 
with  which  the  knowledge  of  the  gospel  had  filled 
his  heart,  imparted  to  his  eloquence  an  authority,  a 
warmth,  and  an  unction  that  his  predecessors  had 
not  possessed."! 

*  D'Aubigue's  History  of  the  Eeformation,  Yol.  I. ,  p.  188. 
t  Myconius'  MS.  Hist,  of  tlie  Kef.  t  DAubigne. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  77 

Ere  long  the  little  wooden  chapel  of  the  Augus- 
tinians  could  not  contain  the  crowds  who  flocked 
to  listen  to  the  young  professor-monk.  Then  the 
town  council  of  AVittemberg  appointed  Luther  their 
chaplain,  and  he  henceforth  preached  in  the  large 
city  church.  The  energy  of  his  genius,  the  anima- 
tion of  his  style,  and  the  excellence  of  his  doctrine 
soon  extended  his  reputation  throughout  Germany, 
and  once  the  Elector  himself  travelled  to  Wittem- 
berg  on  purpose  to  hear  him. 

The  testimony  which  supports  the  oratory  of 
Demosthenes  is  not  more  voluminous  than  that 
.which  relates  to  the  fiery  eloquence  of  Martin  Lu- 
ther. The  willing  and  admiring  tongues  of  scores 
of  his  contemporaneous  friends  and  adherents  pro- 
claim it.  The  hesitating  lips  of  the  most  preju- 
diced and  reluctant  of  the  Jesuits  avow  it. 

"He  possessed,"  says  the  Jesuit  historian  Maim- 
bourg,  "  a  quick  and  penetrating  genius ;  he  was 
indefatigable  in  his  studies,  and  he  was  frequently 
so  absorbed  in  them  as  to  abstain  from  meat  for 
whole  days  together.  He  acquired  great  know- 
ledge of  languages  and  of  the  fathers.  He  was 
remarkably  strong  and  healthy,  and  of  a  sanguine, 
bilious  temperament.  His  eyes  were  piercing  and 
full  of  fire ;  his  voice  sweet  and  vehement,  when 
fairly  raised."* 

"Endowed,"  says  another  of  his  opponents, 
"with  a  ready  and  lively  genius,  with  a  retentive 
memory,  and  employing  his  mother  tongue  with 
*  Maimbourg's  History  of  Lutherauism. 


78  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

wonderful  facility,  Luther  was  inferior  to  none  of 
his  contemporaries  in  eloquence.  Speaking  from 
the  pulpit  as  if  he  were  agitated  by  some  violent 
emotion,  suiting  the  action  to  the  words,  he 
affected  his  hearers'  minds  in  a  surprising  man- 
ner, and  carried  them  like  a  torrent,  wherever  he 
pleased."" 

"  He  had,"  says  Bossu(5t,  himself  the  most  elo- 
quent of  the  French  Komanists,  "  a  lively  and  im- 
petuous eloquence,  that  charmed  and  led  away  the 
people."t 

Yarillas,  a  celebrated  French  Jesuit,  paints  this 
picture  of  the  great  reformer  :  "  To  the  robustness, 
health,  and  industry  of  a  German,  nature  seems 
here  to  have  added  the  spirit  and  vivacity  of  an 
ItaUan.  Nobody  excelled  him  in  philosophy  and 
scholastic  theology ;  nobody  equalled  him  in  the 
art  of  speaking.  He  was  a  most  perfect  master  of 
eloquence.  He  had  completely  discovered  where 
lay  the  strength  and  where  the  weakness  of  the 
human  mind  ;  and  accordingly  he  knew  how  to  ren- 
der his  attacks  successful.  However  various  or 
discordant  might  be  the  passions  of  his  audience, 
he  could  manage  them  to  his  own  purposes,  for  he 
presently  saw  the  ground  upon  which  he  stood; 
and  even  if  the  subject  were  too  difficult  for  argu- 
ment, he  carried  his  point  by  popular  illustration 
and  the  use  of  figures.  Even  in  ordinary  conversa- 
tion he  displayed  the  same  power  over  the  affec- 

*  Florimond  Eaymond's  Hist.  Ha3res.,  cap.  5. 
t  Bossuet's  "Hist,  des  Variations,"  p.  1. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  79 

tions  which  he  had  so  often  demonstrated  in  the 
professional  chair  and  in  the  pulpit."- 

We  remember  nothing  recorded  of  the  oratory 
of  Cicero  or  Pericles  more  highly  eulogistic  than 
this  entire  mass  of  testimony  gleaned  from  the 
works  of  Martin  Luther's  bitterest  haters  and  re- 
vilers. 

•  In  the  many  days  gone  by  there  was  a  king  who 
said  unto  his  prophet,  "  Come^  curse  me  Jacob,  and 
come,  defy  Israel;"  and  the  prophet  "lifted  up  his 
eyes,  and  he  saw  Israel  abiding  in  his  tents,"  and 
he  took  up  his  parable,  and  said,  "  How  goodly  are 
thy  tents,  O  Jacob,  and  thy  tabernacles,  O  Israel ! 
As  the  valleys  are  they  spread  forth,  as  the  gardens 
by  the  river's  side,  as  the  trees  of  lign-aloes,  which 
the  Lord  liatli  planted,  and  as  cedar-trees  beside 
the  waters.  Blessed  is  he  that  blesseth  thee,  and 
cursed  is  he  that  curseth  thee!"  And  the  king's 
anger  was  kindled,  and  he  said,  "I  called  thee  to 
curse  mine  enemies,  and  behold,  thou  hast  alto- 
gether blessed  them.  Therefore  now  flee  thee  to 
thy  place."t  The  j)ropliet's  name  was  not  Maim- 
bourg,  or  Raymond,  or  Bossu^t,  or  Varillas,  but  the 
moral  wiU  do  for  them. 

So  ripely  learned,  so  rich  in  his  experience,  so 
varied  in  his  accomplishments,  was  Martin  Luther, 
when,  at  the  age  of  twenty-six,  he  began  publicly 
to  expound  the  Scriptures  in  the  academic  hall  and 
in  the  church  at  Wittemberg. 

*  Varillas.    See  Milner's  Church  History,  vol.  11.,  pp.  220,  221. 
t  Numbers,  chaps.  23  and  2'4  passim. 


80  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

Theough  all  the  manifold  and  severe  labors  of 
Lntlier's  initiatory  period  at  Wittemberg,  lie  con- 
tinued to  feel  anxious  and  disturbed — got  little'cour 
solation.  An  aching  void  still  yawned  in  his  soul, 
which  penances,  vigils,  and  the  incessant  repetition 
of  the  credo  did  not  bridge  over. 

In  this  state  of  mind  it  happened  that  seven 
convents  of  his  order  were  at  variance  on  certain 
points  with  the  vicar-general;*  and  Luther,  on  ac- 
count of  his  acuteness  of  mind,  his  powers  of  lan- 
guage, and  his  extraordinary  talents  for  discussion, 
was  selected  to  proceed  to  Rome  and  lay  the  mat- 
ter before  the  pope  for  his  adjudication. 

He  was  in  an  ecstasy.  "  Here  at  length,"  he 
murmured,  "I  shall  find  rest."  Filled  with  the 
prejudices  of  the  cloister,  he  regarded  the  "Eternal 
City"  as  the  shekinah — as  the  earthly  tabernacle 
of  the  most  high  God.  His  vivid  imagination  j^ic- 
tured  it  as  the  seat  of  austere  piety,  learned  eccle- 
siasticism,  and  saintly  virtue.  The  Vatican  was 
there,  and  the  archives  of  the  church.  The  mem- 
ory of  sixteen  Christian  centuries  hallowed  its 
churches,  built  of  porphjTry,  amethyst,  ivory,  and 
alabaster,  its  ecclesiastical  palaces,  and  its  sacred 

*  Quod  septem  conventus  a  vicario  iu  quil:)usdam  dissentireut. 
Cocliloeus,  II. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  81 

museums,  crowded  with  the  rarest  curiosities  culled 
from  Saracenic  spoils. 

Taking  with  him  a  brother  monk  as  a  compan- 
ion,"'  Luther  set  out  for  Rome  in  1510,t  and  de- 
scended through  the  passes  of  the  Alps  into  the  rich 
and  voluptuous  plains  of  Italy. 

The  sober  pen  of  history  has  never  before  or 
since  painted  such  a  picture  of  Eoman  profligacy  as 
it  draws  of  Italy  at  this  period  of  Luther's  visit. 
The  pagan  wickedness  of  Caligula  and  Nero  was 
decent  in  comparison.  The  rotten  morals  of  the 
saturnalia  were  white  when  set  against  the  blackness 
of  pontifical  infamy.  Even  the  homage  of  hypoc- 
risy had  ceased  to  be  paid  to  discrowned  virtue. 

But  the  revelation  of  these  things  was  still  to  be 
made  to  the  unsuspecting  mind  of  the  young  Ger- 
man priest.  The  first  thing  which  awakened  his 
astonishment  was  the  good  cheer  and  sumptuous 
entertainment  which  he  everywhere  discovered,  as 
he  visited  convent  after  convent  on  his  road  towards 
Eome. 

Pausing  one  evening  at  the  marble  convent  of 
the  Benedictines,  on  the  banks  of  the  Po,  in  Lom- 
bardy,  he  was  amazed  at  the  tales  told  him  of  the 
princely  revenues  of  the  monastery,.]:  at  the  sj)lendor 
of  the  apartments,  and  at  the  richness  of  the  con- 

*  Meurer's  Life  of  Luther. 

t  Some  biographers  say  in  1511,  others  in  1512.  The  year  of 
Luther's  Eoman  visit  is  still  a  disputed  point. 

X  Its  regiilar  income  was  3G,000  ducats  :  12,000  were  used  in 
furnishing  the  table  ;  12,000  in  repairs,  etc. ;  the  remainder  insup- 
pljang  the  wants  of  the  monks. 

4* 


82  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

ventual  dress.  He  knew  not  what  to  make  of  tMs 
magnificence  of  humility — thte  regal  splendor  of 
penitence.* 

In  this  palace  of  the  Benedictines  Luther  tarried 
several  days,  one  of  which  chanced  to  be  Friday. 
What  was  his  horror  at  beholding  the  luxurious 
table  of  the  monastery  groaning  beneath  a  load  of 
meat.  Yenturing  to  expostulate  with  his  epicurean 
brethren  on  account  of  this  gross  dereliction  of  mo- 
nastic austerity,  the  irritated  monks  threatened  to 
deprive  him  of  his  life  if  he  dared  to  complain  to 
the  pope  of  their  irregularities.  Making  his  escape 
with  considerable  difficulty,  and  through  the  conni- 
vance of  the  porter,t  from  this  den  of  epicures,  the 
astounded  young  German  pressed  on  towards  Eome, 
where  he  asj^ired  to  lay  aside  all  his  growing  burden 
of  uneasy  doubt  at  the  tomb  of  the  apostles. 

His  object  in  making  all  haste  was  to  arrive  in 
Eome  by  St.  John's  eve;  "for,"  says  Luther,  "  jou 
know  the  old  Eoman  proverb  :  'Happy  the  mother 
whose  child  shall  celebrate  mass  in  Kome  on  St. 
John's  eve.'  Oh,  how  I  desired  to  give  my  mother 
this  happiness ;  but  this  was  impossible,  and  it  vex- 
ed me  greatly  to  find  it  so.":):  On  reaching  Bologna, 
both  he  and  his  companion  fell  dangerously  ill — 
sickness  caused,  undoubtedly,  b}^  the  great  change 
in  their  diet.  The  traveller's  poor  head  had  also 
been  too  violently  assailed  by  the  sun  of  Italy,  and 
even  more  than  this,  by  the  strange  things,  the  un- 

*  Jlichelet's  Life  of  Luther.  t  Ibid. 

J  Tiscbredeu. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  83 

wonted  siglits,  and  the  singular  manners  wliich.  he 
had  seen  and  heard  all  along  his  route. 

He  was  obliged  to  keep  his  bed  for  some  time  at 
Bologna,  the  throne  of  the  Koman  law  and  of  the 
legists.  Here  he  fell  a  prey  to  the  most  terrible 
depression :  a  stranger  in  a  foreign  land,  far  from  his 
loved  Germany,  this  of  itself  was  sufficient  to  sad- 
den him.  But  in  addition  to  this,  "the  sense  of  his 
sinfulness  troubled  him ;  the  prospect  of  God's  judg- 
ment filled  him  with  dread.  But  at  the  very  mo- 
ment that  these  terrors  had  reached  their  highest 
j)itch,  the  words  of  St.  Paul  recurred  forcibly  to  his 
mind.  The  just  shall  live  hy  faitJi,  enlighteming  his 
soul  like  a  ray  from  heaven."'^" 

Bestored  and  comforted  by  these  words,  the 
"Wittemberg  monk  soon  regained  sufficient  strength 
to  enable  him  to  pursue  his  journey;  merely  pass- 
ing through  Florence  without  pause,  he  at  length 
reached  Bome — Bome,  so  long  the  object  of  his 
holy  love,  and  of  his  enthusiastic  dreams.  He  pro- 
ceeded at  once  to  the  convent  of  his  order,  near  the 
Porto  del  Fopolo.f 

"  Upon  arriving,"  he  says,  "  I  fell  on  my  knees, 
raised  my  hands  to  heaven,  and  exclaimed.  Hail, 
holy  Bome;  made  holy  by  the  holy  martyrs,  and  by 
the  blood  which  has  been  spilt  here."  It  was  with 
a  different  salutation  that  he  afterwards  greeted 
Bome. 

In  his  fervor  he  adds,  "I  hastened  to  visit  the 

*  D'Aubigue's  Hist,  of  the  Eeformation,  Vol.  1,  p.  190. 
t  Tisclireden. 


84  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

sacred  places;  saw  all,  believed  all."  He  soon  per- 
ceived, liowever,  that  lie  was  tlie  only  person  who 
"did  believe ;  Christianity  seemed  totally  forgotten 
in  the  very  capital  of  Christendom.  The  pope  was 
no  longer  the  infamous  Alexander  Borgia,  but  the 
choleric  and  warlike  Julius  II.  "  We  know,"  says 
Michel^t,  "  that  his  great  artist  Michael  Angelo  rep- 
resented him  overwhelming  Bologna  with  his  bene- 
diction. The  pope  had  just  at  this  time  command- 
ed the  sculptor  to  chisel  for  him  a  funereal  monu- 
ment as  large  as  a  church:  of  this  projected  monu- 
ment, the  Moses,  with  some  other  statues  which  have 
come  down  to  us,  were  to  have  formed  a  part. 

"  The  sole  thought  which  occupied  the  pope  and 
Home  at  this  juncture,  was  the  war  against  the 
French.  Luther  had  manifestly  slight  chance  of  a 
favorable  opportunity  for  discoursing  of  grace  and 
the  inefficacy  of  works  to  this  singular  priest,  who 
beseiged  towns  in  person,  and  who  only  just  before 
had  refused  to  enter  Mirandola  otherwise  than  by 
the  breach  he  had  made  in  its  walls.  His  cardinals, 
apprentice-officers  under  him,  were  politicians,  diplo- 
matists, or  more  generally  upstart  savans,  who  read 
nothing  but  Cicero,  and  who  would  have  feared  to 
hurt  their  Latinity  by  opening  the  Bible.  When 
they  spoke  of  the  pope,  it  was  of  the  Fonfifex  Max- 
imus ;  a  canonized  saint  was,  in  their  language,  a 
man  relatus  inter  Divos ;  and  if  they  at  any  time 
referred  to  grace,  they  phrased  it  thus:  Deo7'um 
immortalium  henejiciis.''^ 

*  Miclielet's  Life  of  Lutlicr,  pp.  16,  17, 


OF  MAKTIN  LUTHEE.  85 

In  one  of  liis  conversations  Luther  gives  us 
naively  an  idea  of  liow  terrible  Italy  was  to  tlie  im- 
agination of  tlie  simple-hearted  Germans :  "  The 
Italians  only  require  you  to  look  in  a  mirror  to  be 
able  to  kill  you.  They  can  deprive  you  of  all  your 
senses  by  secret  poisons.  In  Italy  the  air  itself  is 
pestilential ;  at  night  they  close  hermetically  every 
window,  and  stop  up  every  chink  and  cranny."* 

Luther  was  speedily  attracted  by  the  ruins  of 
pagan  Rome.  Treading  everywhere  on  the  ashes 
of  the  past,  he  recalled  Scipio's  sad  presentiment, 
when  he  stood  gazing  upon  the  tottering  walls  and 
burning  palaces  of  that  Carthage  which  his  military 
genius  had  brought  to  ruin  :  "Thus  will  it  one  day 
be  with  Rome."  "And  in  truth,"  exclaimed  Luther, 
"  the  Rome  of  the  Scipios  and  Cresars  has  become 
a  corpse.  There  are  such  heaps  of  rubbish  that  the 
foundations  of  the  houses  are  now  where  once  stood 
the  roofs.  It  is  tliere  that  once  the  riches  and  treas- 
ures of  the  earth  were  heaped  together." 

"But  with  these  profane  ashes  Avere  mir^gied 
other  and  holier  ones:  he  recalled  them  to  mind. 
The  burial-place  of  the  martj^rs  was  not  far  from  that 
of  the  generals  of  Rome,  and  of  her  conquerors. 
Christian  Rome  with  its  sufterings  had  more  power 
over  the  heart  of  the  Saxon  monk  than  pagan  Rome 
with  all  its  gior3^  Here  that  letter  arrived  in  which 
Paul  wrote.  The  just  shall  live  hy  faith.  He  might 
gaze  upon  the  Appii  Forum  and  the  Three  Taverns. 
Near  by  was  the  house  of  Narcissus ;  there  was  the 
*  Tischi-edeu,  p.  140. 


8G  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

palace  of  Csesar,  where  the  Lord  delivered  the  apos- 
tle from  the  jaws  of  the  lion."* 

But  Luther  was  destined  to  enjoy  at  Eome  noth- 
ing but  the  consolation  of  these  memories.  He  could 
have  no  sympathy  with  the  revelations  of  the  bab- 
bling pedants  and  worldly  priests  of  the  pontifical 
court.  And  if  the  bewildered  ambassador  turned 
for  comfort  to  the  churches,  he  did  not  even  hear  a 
decent  mass.  The  blasphemous  haste  with  which 
the  Roman  priests  celebrated  the  sacrament  of  the 
altar,  and  the  profane  mechanism  to  which  they  had 
reduced  the  entire  ceremony,  astounded  the  Saxon 
monk,  while  they  stood  laughing  at  his  simplicity. 
On  one  occasion  when  himself  officiating,  he  dis- 
covered that  the  priests  at  an  adjoining  altar  had 
repeated  seven  masses  ere  he  had  completed  one. 
"  Quick,  quick,"  cried  one,  "send  our  Lady  back  her 
Son;"  making  an  impious  allusion  to  the  transub- 
stantiation  of  the  bread  into  the  body  of  Jesus 
Christ.t  At  another  time  Luther  himself  relates 
that  he  had  not  got  through  the  gospel,  ere  the  priest 
who  was  officiating  with  him  had  dispatched  with 
impious  celerity  the  whole  service,  and  stood  whis- 
pering to' him,  " Passa, passa ;  ife,  missa  est" — Haste, 
haste;  make  an  end  of  it.:}:     ' 

Being  one  day  at  table  with  several  prelates, 
open  buffoonery  of  manner  and  impious  conversation 
were  indulged  in.  The  indecent  churchmen  did  not 
hesitate  to  give  utterance  to  the  most  ribald  jests 

*  D'Aubigne's  Hist,  of  the  Kef.,  Vol.  l,.p.  192. 

t  Ibid.  t  Tischi-eden,  p.  4A1. 


OF  MAKTIN  LUTHEE.  87 

in  liis  presence — doubtless  believing  that  liis  morals 
were  as  rotten  as  their  own.  Among  otlier  tilings 
they  related,  laughing  and  priding  themselves  upon 
it,  how,  when  saying  mass  at  the  altar,  instead  of 
the  sacramental  words  which  were  to  transform  the 
elements  into  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  they 
pronounced  over  the  bread  and  wine  these  words: 
Panis  es,  et  panis  manehis ;  viniim  es,  et  vinum  mane- 
his — Bread  thou  art,  and  bread  thou  shalt  remain; 
wine  thou  art,  and  wine  thou  shalt  remain.  "Then," 
said  they  with  a  leer,  "  we  elevate  the  pyx  and  all 
the  people  worship."- 

Ulric  Yon  Hiitten,  a  famous  knight  and  pam- 
phleteer of  that  age,  in  a  caustic  satire  entitled,  "  The 
Eoman  Trinity,"  says  pungently,  "  There  are  three 
things  which  we  commonly  bring  away  fi'om  Rome : 
a  bad  conscience,  a  vitiated  stomach,  and  an  empty 
purse.  There  are  three  things  which  E-ome  does 
not  believe  in :  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead,  and  hell.  There  are  three  things 
which  Kome  trades  in :  the  grace  of  Christ,  the  dig- 
nities of  the  church,  and  women." 

Luther's  eyes  were  not  immediately  opened  to 
these  things,  for  he  makes  this  record  of  himself: 
"  While  at  Home  I  too  was  ^  such  a  foolish  saint  as 
to  run  to  every  church,  nook,  and  corner,  believing 
all  their  ridiculous  stories  and  detestable  false- 
hoods." He  adds  with  grim  humor,  "I  likewise 
said  a  mass  or  two  at  Rome,  being  at  the  time  very 
sorry  that  my  parents  were  not  dead,  as  I  would 

<s  L.  0pp. 


88       .  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

have  liked,  by  means  of  my  masses  and  otlier  pre- 
cious works,  to  liave  delivered  them  from  purga- 
tory." 

Seckendorf  relates  that  Luther,  during  the  ear- 
lier days  of  his  tarry  at  Eome,  wishing  to  obtain  an 
indulgence  promised  by  a  recent  decretal  to  all  who 
should  ascend  upon  their  knees  the  steps  of  what 
was  styled  "  Pilate's  Staircase,"  which  was  said  to 
have  been  miraculously  transported  from  Jerusalem 
to  Rome,  determined  to  creep  to  its  summit.  But 
while  toilsomely  engaged  in  the  accomplishment  of 
this  meritorious  work,  he  heard  a  voice  thundering 
fi-om  the  bottom  of  his  heart  those  words  of  Paul 
which  tAvice  before,  at  Erfurth  and  at  Bologna,  had 
sounded  in  his  ears,  "  Tlte  just  shall  live  by  faith." 
Pausing  in  amazement,  he  rose  to  his  feet,  and  hast- 
ily descending  those  steps  up  which  he  had  just 
been  so  toilsomely  dragging  his  body,  he  rushed 
from  the  scene,  shuddering  and  ashamed  at  the 
depth  into  which  superstition  had  plunged  him." 

Luther  had  expected  to  confirm  his  wavering 
faith  in  the  holy  city ;  but  the  consolation  to  be  got- 
ten by  a  soul  like  his,  beset  with  doubt,  was  small 
indeed  in  this  mediaeval  Golgotha.  He  expected 
to  find  there  earnest  piety  and  sober  living ;  he 
found  only  folly  with  the  cap  and  bells.  He  looked 
for  the  evidences  of  Christian  life  and  examj^le  ;  he 
beheld  the  dissolute  morals  of  an  age  blacker  than 
the  pagan.  The  home  of  the  pontiffs,  he  thought 
he  should  see  model  order  and  abounding  faith, 
*  Seckendorf  s  Hist,  of  Lutlieranism,  p.  5G. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  89 

charity,  and  love;  lie  met  robbery  and  riot  in  tlie 
streets,  and  belield  open  scoffers,  profligates,  and 
warriors  smeared  with  gore,  dressed  in  the  most 
gorgeous  insignia  of  the  church  of  the  simple  Naz- 
arene,  and  ministering  unblushingiy,  with  all  the 
levity  of  pagan  augurs,  at  the  highest  altars  of  the 
Christian  faith.  He  expected  to  find  at  the  doors 
of  the" Vatican  the  perfect  refutation  of  his  doubt- 
ing queries ;  he  saw  written  over  the  whole  front  of 
the  pontifical  palace,  Dante's  motto  of  the  Inferno : 
"All  hojje  abandon,  ye  who  enter  here.''  Shocked 
beyond  measure  by  what  he  heard  and  saw,  Lu- 
ther wrote  home,  "  It  is  incredible  what  sins  and 
atrocities  are  committed  in  Rome.  They  must  be 
seen  and  heard  to  be  believed;  so  that  it  is  usual 
to  say,  '  If  there  be  a  hell.  Home  is  built  above  it ; 
it  is  an  abyss  from  whence  all  sins  proceed.'  "* 

It  had  then  become  a  vulgar  proverb,  that  "  he 
who  goes  to  Rome  for  the  first  time  looks  out  for  a 
knave ;  the  second  time  he  finds  him ;  and  the  third, 
he  brings  him  away  with  him ;"  "  but  now,"  affirms  a 
curious  manuscript  addressed  to  the  Christian  no- 
bles of  Germany,  after  reciting  this  proverb — "  but 
now  people  are  become  so  clever,  that  they  make 
these  three  journeys  in  one." 

Machiavelli,  who  lived  contemporaneously  with 
Luther,  and  who  was  residing  at  Florence  when  the 
Saxon  monk  passed  through  that  city  on  his  route 
to  Rome,  makes  this  remark  :  "  The  strongest  symp- 
tom of  the  approaching  ruin  of  Christianity  is,  that 
*  Luther's  L.  0pp.  (W.)  XXII. ,  2376. 


90  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

tlio  nearer  people  approacli  the  capital  of  Christen- 
dom, the  less  Christian  spirit  is  found  in  them. 
The  scandalous  examples  and  the  crimes  of  the  court 
of  Rome  are  the  cause  why  Italy  has  lost  every 
principle  of  piety  and  all  religious  feeling.  "We  Ital- 
ians are  indebted  principally  to  the  church  and  the 
priests  for  haying  become  impious  and  immoral."* 

From  what  he  had  hunself  seen  and  heard,  it  is 
scarcely  to  be  wondered  at  that  Luther  carried  back 
with  him  into  Germany  the  condemnation  of  Italy 
and  the  Roman  church.  "  In  truth,"  says  Michel6t, 
"for  a  mind  intent  upon  the  moral  view  of  Chris- 
tianity, there  needed  a  rare  effort  of  philosophy,  a 
historical  enthusiasm  hardly  to  be  expected  in  those 
days,  to  discover  religion  in  that  world  of  art,  of 
jurisprudence,  of  politics,  which  constituted  Italy."t 

Infinitely  disgusted  by  the  orgies  of  the  Roman 
capital,  Luther  hastily  quitted  it  after  a  fortnight's 
tarry,  returning  to  his  duties  at  Wittemberg  dispir- 
ited, wrapped  in  thought,  and  silent  as  a  man  in  a 
deep  dream. 

The  grand  result  of  this  Roman  tour  was,  that 
it  emancipated  him  from  many  monkish  prejudices, 
fatally  shook  his  faith  in  the  immaculateness  of  the 
pontifical  see,  drove-  him  to  lean  more  firmly  than 
ever  upon  the  Scriptures  for  support,  and  thus 
helped  largely  to  prepare  him  for  that  dread  con- 
flict with  the  merciless  and  impious  hierarchy  of 
Rome  which  was  shortly  to  be  inaugurated. 

*  Macliiavelli's  Dissertation  on  the  First  Dec.  of  Li\y. 
t  Micliel^t's  Life  of  Luther,  pp.  IG,  17. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  91 


CHAPTER   YII. 

It  may  not  be  amiss  to  turn  aside  at  this  point 
from  our  direct  narrative,  for  the  purpose  of  devot- 
ing a  chapter  to  the  consideration  of  what  is  termed 
the  "  revival  of  learning,"  always  considered  by  his- 
torians to  have  had  an  important  influence  upon  the 
initiatory  phases  of  the  Eeformation. 

That  night  of  ignorance  which  had  spread  like  a 
pall  over  Europe  upon  the  conquest  of  Eome  by 
the  barbarous  legions  of  Attila,  and  the  consequent 
extinguishment  of  the  last  lingering  ray  of  Eoman 
learning  and  civility,  continued  to  deepen  during 
the  Middle  Ages,  enlightened  only  by  the  twinkling 
stars  of  priestly  intelligence  which  shone  from  a 
few  isolated  monasteries,  and  was  only  broken  a 
few  scores  of  years  previous  to  the  Reformation,  by 
the  rising  sun  of  knowledge  which  then  began  to 
redden  and  broaden  upon  the  intellectual  horizon. 

It  is  a  remarkable  and  pregnant  fact,  sufficiently 
significant  to  the  thoughtful  student,  that  it  was 
during  this  period  of  the  most  servile,  abject  igno- 
rance, that  the  Roman  see  reached  the  acme  of  its 
omnipotence,  hurling  its  mailed  crusaders,  gathered 
from  the  remotest  corners  of  Christendom,  and 
melted  into  the  hottest  enthusiasm  by  the  eloquence 
of  Roman  monks,  against  the  Saracenic  conquerors 
of  the  holy  sepulchre ;  enthroning  and  deposing 
kings  by  the  simple  promulgation  of  a  papal  bull ; 


1)2  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

dictating  unquestioned  the  policy  of  Europe,  and 
swaying  an  uiidisputed  sceptre  over  both  the  spir- 
itual and  the  temporal  worlds. 

But  the  intellect  of  man  has  a  natural  tendency 
to  expand,  to  investigate,  to  satisfy  itself  in  regard 
to  the  rationale  of  established  systems. 

This  tendency  first  manifested  itself  in  Italy. 
In  that  land  where  the  human  mind  had  sunk  to 
the  basest  depths  of  bigotry  and  superstition,  it 
was  just  that  it  should  make  amends  to  intelligence 
by  first  beginning  to  soar. 

Melancholy  as  the  condition  of  Europe  contin- 
ued to  be  through  the  fifteenth  century,  the  inter- 
ests of  learning  had  been  grandly  advanced  by 
Dante  and  Petrarch  ;  both  of  them  men  of  immense 
capacity,  and  enthusiastic  in  the  defence  of  truth 
and  liberty.  Dante  and  Petrarch  early  laid  the 
foundations  of  a  noble  literature  in  Italy.  Their 
writings  prove  how  they  yearned  after  knowledge, 
how  high  a  value  they  placed  on  every  ray  of  hght 
which  shone  upon  them  from  the  past,  and  how 
they  rejoiced  when  the  truths  which  had  taken 
shape  in  their  solitary  dreamings  were  discovered, 
demonstrated,  and  deposited- in  the  records  of  an- 
tiquity. Dante  placed  the  mightiest  popes  in  his 
"  Inferno  ;"  Petrarch  called  with  bold  perseverance 
for  the  return  of  the  church  to  its  primitive  condi- 
tion. 

"  At  the  beginning  of  the  fifteenth  century,  John 
of  Ravenna  taught  the  Latin  literature  v/itli  great 
renown  at  Padua  and  Florence;  and  Chrysoloras 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  03 

interpreted  the  masterpieces  of  Greece  at  Florence 
and  at  Pavia. 

"  While  learning  was  thus  issuing  from  the  pris- 
ons in  which  it  had  been  held  captive  in  Euroj)e, 
the  East  imparted  fresh  light  to  the  West.  The 
standard  of  Mahomet  planted  on  the  walls  of  Con- 
stantinople in  1453,  had  driven  its  learned  men 
into  exile.  They  had  carried  the  learning  of  Greece 
with  them  into  Italy.  The  torch  of  the  ancients 
rekindled  the  minds  that  had  been  for  ages  quench- 
ed in  darkness."* 

These  teachers  soon  communicated  to  the  im- 
pressible Italians  their  own  enthusiasm  for  Grecian 
art  and  literature.  At  the  same  time  the  patriot- 
ism of  Italy  was  aroused,  and  multitudes  of  learned 
men  arose  who  aspired  to  restore  the  noble  works 
of  their  earlier  countrymen  of  the  days  of  the  em- 
pire and  the  re2:)ublic  to  their  pristine  honor. 

"  It  was  necessary  that  the  task  of  reviving  learn- 
ing should  deA'olve  upon  men  like  these;  that  the 
value  of  what  had  passed  into  oblivion  should  be 
made  manifest  by  men  who  had  much  of  what  was 
precious  to  ofier  from  the  treasure-house  of  their 
own  intellects.  Had  the  zeal  of  the  mere  scholar 
been  employed,  the  dry  bones  of  the  past  might 
have  been  dug  up,  the  skeleton  shown  complete,  but 
men  would  never  have  been  w;on  to  gaze  upon  the 
cold  and  fleshless  forms  thus  summoned  from  the 
tomb."t 

*  D'Aubigne's  Hist,  of  the  Eef.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  103. 
t  St€bbing's  Hist,  of  the  Eef.,  Vol.  I,  p.  6. 


94  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

But  the  fertile  and  original  minds  of  sucli  think- 
ers as  Dante  and  Petrarch  gave  instant  life  and 
beauty  to  the  creations  which  they  recovered  from 
the  past.  They  made  the  treasures  they  brought 
forth  bewitchingly  attractive  to  the  mind  and  eye 
of  the  meanest  of  men,  and  consequently  they  were 
instrumental  in  creating  a  general  thirst  for  know- 
ledge, which  in  its  turn  ere  long  produced  a  change 
in  the  mental  habits  of  mankind. 

Thus  it  was  that  Europe  grew  to  be,  so  to  speak, 
twenty-one  years  of  age — reached  its  legal  majority. 
The  credulous  simplicity  of  its  mental  infancy  and 
ignorance  began  to  be  replaced  by  the  spirit  of  in- 
quiry. Men's  eyes  j)artially  opened ;  and  they  began 
to  demand  a  reason  for  the  steps  taken  by  the 
papacy,  that  long  venerated  guide  under  whose 
direction  they  had  walked  in  passive,  unquestioning 
silence  when  their  eyes  were  closed. 

"  But  we  must  be  careful,"  says  an  acute  histo- 
rian, "not  to  attribute  to  the  cultivation  of  classical 
literature  too  important  a  place  among  the  efficient 
causes  of  the  Reformation.  Its  chief- value  consist- 
ed in  the  models  which  it  afforded  for  the  arrange- 
ment of  thought;  and  in  those  beautiful  forms  of 
expression  which  arose  fi'om  the  same  delicate  per- 
ception of  the  fit  and  the  graceful,  as  the  noble  pro- 
ductions of  the  sculptor  and  the  architect.  In  these 
respects  it  offered  a  rich  reward  to  the  careful  stu- 
dent; he  learned  thereby  to  express  his  opinions 
with  truer  force ;  the  mirror  he  held  up  reflected  the 
images  of  things  with  greater  vividness,  and  he  was 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEB.  95 

taught  by  what  methods  the  finest  minds  had  com- 
municated to  each  other  as  much  of  wisdom  as  un- 
assisted reason  could  acquire. 

"  These  advantages  would  be  rejected  by  no  one 
who  paid  due  attention  to  the  cultivation  of  his 
intellect ;  and  the  good  thereby  produced  was  sufii- 
cient  to  fill  the  hearts  of  enlightened  men  with  the 
liveliest  admu-ation  for  revived  literature."'-' 

Learning  then  was  not  the  cause  of  the  Eeforma- 
tion,  it  was  simply  the  vehicle  upon  which  God  ap- 
pointed it  to  ride  to  its  triumph  ;  it  was  the  engine 
of  which  the  reformers  made  use  to  spread  their 
truths. 

This  fact  the  most  superficial  resort  to  history 
will  afiirm.  It  has  been  well  said  by  an  elegant 
historian,  that  "  the  paganism  of  the  poets,  as  it  re- 
appeared in  Italy,  rather  confirmed  the  paganism 
of  the  heart.  The  scepticism  of  the  followers  of 
Aristotle,  and  the  contempt  for  every  thing  that  did 
not  appertain  to  philology,  took  possession  of  many 
literary  men,  and  engendered  an  incredulity  which, 
even  while  affecting  submission  to  the  church,  at- 
tacked the  most  important  truths  of  religion."  One 
of  the  scholastic  manuscripts  of  that  day  assures  us 
that  a  philosopher  named  Peter  Pomponatius  pub- 
Hcly  inculcated  at  Bologna  and  Padua  the  doctrine, 
that  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  the  idea  of  a 
Providence  were  mere  philosophical  problems.!' 

*  Stebbing's  Hist,  of  the  Keformation,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  8,  9. 
t  "De  Immortalitate  AnimcB,  de  Prasclestinatioue  et  rrovi- 
dentia." 


96  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

John  Francis  Pico,  uepliew  of  Pico  of  Mirandola, 
speaks  of  one  pope  who  did  not  believe  in  God ;  and 
of  another,  who,  having  acknowledged  to  a  friend 
his  disbelief  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  appear- 
ed to  him  one  night  after  death,  and  said,  "Alas, 
the  eternal  fire  that  is  now  consuming  me  makes  me 
feel  but  too  sensibly  the  immortality  of  that  soul 
which  I  had  thought  would  die  with  the  body."* 

When  Leo  X.  and  his  train  of  glittering  courtiers 
and  pedantic  scholars  took  possession  of  the  Vati- 
can, the  church  was  not  reformed,  nor  was  Chris- 
tianity revived.  It  required  something  very  dif- 
ferent from  the  maxims  of  Aristotle,  the  mystic 
philosophy  of  mediaeval  hermits,  the  decrees  of  coun- 
cils, the  bulls  of  conceited  pontiifs,  and  the  plato- 
uism  with  which  the  Medici  were  identified,  to 
medicine  the  wound  w4iich  rankled  in  the  heart  of 
Europe. 

In  1513,  Julian  de  Medici,  a  son  of  Lorenzo  the 
Magnificent,  a  Florentine  of  the  illustrious  house  of 
the  Medici,  was  elected  to  the  vacant  throne  of  the 
Pontifical  see,  under  the  name  of  Leo  X. 

Upon  Leo,  whose  reign  was  destined  to  witness 
and  to  occasion  the  commencement  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, the  muse  of  history  can  j)ronounce  no  higher 
eulogium  than  that  he  was  a  liberal  patron  of  the 
arts  and  of  heUes-lettrcs.  Himself  no  mean  proficient 
in  scholastic  lore,t  he  had  inherited  the  magnificent 
spirit  and  the  elegant  tastes  of  his  family.     But 

*  J.  F.  Pici  de  Fide,  0pp.  II,  820. 
t  Kaulie's  Hist,  of  the  Popes.     Leo  X. 


OF  MAKTIN  LUTHEE.  97 

wliile  lie  was  clever  and  amiable  iu  his  personal 
character,  he  wholly  neglected  ecclesiastical  affairs, 
was  notoriously  destitute  of  all  claims  to  piety,*  and 
habitually  sunk  his  mind  to  the  absorbing  pursuit 
of  useless  and  dilettante^  studies,  enamoured  only  of 
that  dolcefar  nientef  which  the  lazy  Italian  prover- 
bially loves. 

The  atmosphere  of  that  Florence  fi'om  which 
Leo  came  was  deleterious  to  liberal  ideas,  and  the 
growth  of  Christian  character.  Preeminently  a 
belles-lettres  city,  it  cared  httle  for  the  austerities 
of  Christian  practice,  or  for  religious  purity  and 
jirogress,  so  long  as  it  might  pursue  unvexed  its 
artistic  avocations. 

It  valued  itself  more  upon  the  garnered  trophies 
of  its  artistic  genius,  upon  its  elegant  fa9ades,  its 
marble  columns,  its  palaces  flushed  with  the  hues  of 
painting,  its  squares  crowded  with  the  marvels  of 
the  sculptor's  chisel,  and  its  vistas  of  Corinthian 
pilasters,  than  upon  its  high  principles,  or  its  rigid 
morality. 

The  luxurious  Florentine,  melted  in  baths  and 
perfumes,  and  lounging  in  a  delicious  languor,  stood 
"mocking  at  the  severe  precepts  of  Christian  virtue, 
and  pointing  to  his  silvery  Arno,  to  his  gardens  fill- 
ed with  pomegranates,  to  his  lyres  and  his  easels, 
really  felt  that  his  gay  capital,  lovesick  with  music 
and  poetry,  fully  compensated  him  for  the  loss  of 
morality  and  religious  honor. 

Something  of  this  feeling  Leo  had  unquestion- 
*  Larpi.  t  Pleasant  idleness. 


98  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

ably  carried  witli  him  to  the  papal  throne.  It  is 
very  certain  that  his  prelates,  learned  and  unlearn- 
ed, paid  Httle  respect  to  their  sacred  calling. 

"  They  regarded  those  Christian  mysteries  of 
which  they  were  the  stewards,  just  as  the  Augur 
Cicero  and  the  Pontifex  Maximus  C?esar  regarded 
the  Sibylline  books  and  the  pecking  of  the  sacred 
chickens.  Among  themselves  they  spoke  of  the 
incarnation,  the  eucharist,  and  the  Trinity  in  the 
same  tone  in  which  Cotta  and  Yelleius  talked  of 
the  oracle  of  Delphi,  or  of  the  voice  of  Faunus  in 
the  mountains. 

"  Their  years  glided  by  in  a  soft  dream  of  sen- 
sual and  intellectual  voluptuousness.  Choice  cook- 
ery, delicious  wines,  lovely  women,  hounds,  falcons, 
horses,  newly  discovered  manuscripts  of  the  clas- 
sics, sonnets  and  burlesque  romances  in  the  sweet- 
est Tuscan — just  as  licentious  as  a  fine  sense  of 
the  graceful  would  permit ;  plates  from  the  hand  of 
Benvenuto,  designs  for  palaces  by  Michael  Angelo, 
frescoes  by  Raphael,  busts,  mosaics,  and  gems  just 
dug  up  fi'om  among  the  ruins  of  ancient  temples  and 
villas — these  things  were  the  delight  and  even  the 
serious  occupation  of  their  lives."" 

This  picture  of  the  occupations  of  the  most 
learned  court  of  modern  Europe  sufficiently  demon- 
strates the  utter  worthlessness  of  unassisted  learn- 
ing in  regenerating  society.  That  herculean  task 
required  for  its  accomplishment  a  mightier  jjower 
than  could  be  supplied  by  human  wit.  "  This  arti- 
*  Macaiiley's  Essay  ou  Raukc's  History  of  the  Popes. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHER.  99 

cle  of  justification  by  faith,"  said  Luther,  "is  what 
creates  the  church,  nourishes  it,  edifies  it,  preserves 
and  defends  it.  No  one  can  teach  worthily  in  the 
church,  or  oppose  an  adversary  with  success,  if  he 
does  not  adhere  to  this  truth.  This  is  the  heel  that 
shall  bruise  the  head  of  the  serpent."* 

*  Luther  to  Brentius. 


100  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 


CHAPTEE  VIII. 

LuTHEK,  upon  liis  return  fi'om  the  Roman  capi- 
tal, thankful  to  God  for  his  escape  from  its  abomi- 
nations, and  more  fiercely  beset  by  doubts  than 
ever,  had  constant  recourse  to  the  Scriptures  for 
consolation  and  support.  No  longer  dazzled  by 
the  flickering  blaze  of  consular  decisions  and  paj^al 
decretals,  he  now  lighted  his  torch  at  the  heavenly 
altar. 

Resuming  the  daily  lectures  which  had  been 
interrupted  by  his  Roman  journey,  and  which  had 
created  so  great  a  sensation,  the  ardent  professor 
continued  those  terrific  attacks  upon  scholasticism 
which  ere  long  completely  demolished  that  citadel 
of  self-righteous  priestcraft ;  while  he  drew  the  Wit- 
temberg  students,  and  the  thoiisands  of  others  who 
crowded  fi-om  the  remotest  parts  of  Germany  to 
hear  him,  towards  Christ,  and  inducted  them  into 
that  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  which  had  already 
raised  his  own  soul  to  such  a  height  that  he  could 
hear,  echoing  from  the  heavenly  courts,  "a  seven- 
fold chorus  of  hallelujahs  and  harping  symphonies." 

Meantime  the  Elector  Frederick,  upon  whom 
the  preaching  of  the  Augustinian  had  made  a  last- 
ing impression,  and  who  greatly  admired  his  sound 
learning,  splendid  eloquence,  self-abnegation,  and 
candid  truthfulness,*  summoning   Staupitz  to  his 

*  Melanctlion's  "  Vita  Lutlieii. " 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  101 

side,  suggested  that  their  mutual  protegd  be  pro- 
moted to  tlie  still  higher  dignity  of  "Doctor  of  the 
holy  Scriptures."  This  project  met  with  Staupitz's 
warni  approval;  and  the  amiable  and  worthy  doc- 
tor at  once  repaired  to  Wittemberg  to  acquaint  the 
young  professor  with  the  honor  which  the  elector 
had  decreed  for  him. 

Summoning  Luther  into  the  garden  of  the  uni- 
versity, he  said  to  him,  "  My  friend,  you  must  now 
become  a  doctor  of  the  holy  Scriptures."  The 
vicar-general  met  with  unexpected  opposition.  The 
surprised  and  modest  monk  recoiled;  tlie  thought 
of  so  great  an  honor  overwhelmed  him. 

"  Seek  for  one  more  worthy,"  said  he ;  "  I  can- 
not consent  to  it." 

"  Nay,"  replied  Staupitz,  "  the  Lord  has  much 
to  do  in  the  church,  and  requires  young  and  vigor- 
ous'^doctors." 

"But  I  am  weak  and  sickly,"  expostulated  Lu- 
ther; "  my  days  are  few ;  look  for  a  strong  man." 

"Dead  or  alive,"  responded  Staupitz,  "the  Lord 
requires  you." 

"Only  the  Holy  Spirit  can  make  a  doctor  of 
divinity,"'^'  persisted  the  young  professor. 

But  the  inexorable  Staupitz  responded  authori- 
tatively, "Do  as  your  convent  and  I  require,  for 
you  have  promised  to  obey  us." 

The  Augustinian  remembering  that  this  was 
true,  then  pleaded,  "  But  I  am  poor,  and  cannot 
pay  the  expense  of  such  a  promotion." 

♦  Weismamii  Hist.  Eccl.  I.,  pp.  1401,  1405. 


102  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

"  The  elector  is  not  poor,  and  lie  will  take  charge 
of  the  expense,"  was  the  ready  reply. 

Beaten  thus  from  his  last  defence,  the  reluctant 
monk  was  forced  to  comply ;  and  accordingly  the 
18th  of  October,  1512,  was  the  time  appointed  for 
the  ceremony  to  take  place. 

At  the  close  of  the  summer  of  1512,  Luther 
went  to  Leipsic,  then  the  seat  of  the  elector's  court, 
for  the  pui^pose  of  receiving  from  the  electoral 
treasury  the  money  which  had  been  promised  for 
the  purpose  of  defraying  the  expenses' incidental  to 
his  doctorate.  He  suffered  there  a  vexatious  de- 
tention of  some  weeks,  owing  to  the  negligence  of 
the  treasurers;  so  that  it  was  not  until  the  4th  of 
October  that  he  received  the  fifty  florins  which  had 
been  set  aside  for  him.  In  his  receipt  for  that  sum, 
given  to  Pfeffinger  and  John  Doltzig,  the  ever-jjres- 
ent  modesty  of  the  young  professor  is  shown  con- 
spicuously, on  the  very  eve  of  his  promotion,  by  his 
signature,  "Martin,  Brother  of  the  Order  of  Her- 
mits."* 

At  length  the  eventful  day  arrived  on  which 
Luther  was  to  receive  his  licentiate  in  divinity. 
Singularly  enough  it  happened  that  it  fell  to  tlie 
duty  of  Andrew  Bodenstein,  surnamed  Carlstadt, 
from  the  city  in  which  he  resided,  and  who  years 
after  created  a  schism  in  the  Beformation,  to  con- 
fer upon  Martin  Luther  the  highest  dignity  of  the 
university. 

Carlstadt  was  a  man  of  vast  learning,  of  capa- 
*  Luther's  L.  Epp.  I.,  p.  11. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHER.  103 

cious  mind,  and  assiduous  temper,  but  jealous,  mo- 
rose, and  gloomy.  He  was  at  this  time  a  doctor  of 
divinity,  held  a  professorship  in  the  university  at 
Wittemberg,  and  performed  besides  the  offices  of 
canon  and  archdeacon.  "At  this  time,"  he  after- 
wards acknowledged,  "I  had  not  yet  read  the  holy 
Scriptures* — a  remark,  it  has  been  well  said,  which 
gives  us  a  very  correct  idea  of  what  theology  then 
was.  Here  was  a  doctor^  of  divinity,  who  had  stud- 
ied at  half  a  dozen  universities,  and  under  the  shad- 
ow of  the  Vatican  itself,  and  yet  who  had  never 
perused  that  Bible  from  which  divinity  is  derived. 

It  has  been  charged  that,  though  Carlstadt  at 
this  time  considered  Luther  to  be  his  inferior,  he 
came  ere  long  to  cherish  a  most  unchristian  jeal- 
ousy of  him,  going  so  far  as  to  exclaim  one  day, 
"  I  will  not  be  less  great  than  Luther."t 

Be  this  as  it  may,  Carlstadt  presided  at  this 
ceremony,  solemnly  conferring  upon  his  future  rival 
the  insignia  of  doctor  of  divinity,  previous  to  Avhich 
Luther  took  this  oath :  "  I  swear  to  defend  the  evan- 
gehcal  truth  with  all  my  might."  "  He  was  made," 
says  Melancthon,  "  a  biblical  doctor,  and  not  a  doc- 
tor of  sentences  ;|  and  was  thus  called  to  devote 
himself  to  the  study  of  the  Bible,  and  not  to  the 
exposition  of  human  traditions."  "  I  then,"  sajs 
Luther,  "pledged  myself  to  my  well-beloved  Scrip- 
tures, to  preach  them  faithfully,  to  teach  them  with 

*  Wiesmanni,  Hist.  Eccl.,  p.  UIG. 

t  Ibid.     Also  D'Aiibigue,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  203,  204. 

J  Doctor  biblicus,  et  non  senteutiarius.     Mclanc.  Vita  Luth. 


104  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

purity,  to  study  tliem  all  my  life,  and  to  defend 
tlieni,  botli  in  disputation  and  in  writing,  against  all 
false  teachers,  so  far  as  God  should  give  me  the 
ability."* 

"  This  solemn  oath  was  Luther's  call  to  the  Ref- 
ormation. By  imposing  on  his  conscience  the  holy 
obligation  of  searching  freely  and  boldly  proclaim- 
ing the  Christian  truth,  this  oath  raised  the  new 
doctor  above  the  narrow  limits  to  which  his  monas- 
tic vow  would  perhaps  liaA^e  confined  him.  Called 
by  the  universit}^  by  his  sovereign,  in  the  name  of 
imperial  majesty,  and  of  the  see  of  Rome  itself,  he 
became  from  that  hour  the  most  intrepid  herald  of 
the  word  of  life.  On  that  memorable  day  Luther 
was  armed  champion  of  the  Bible."t 

This  matter  of  his  doctorate  finally  settled,  Lu- 
ther gave  himself  with  renewed  strength  and  anima- 
tion to  his  chosen  work  at  "Wittemberg,  pointing 
out  with  marvellous  clearness  and  wealth  of  illustra- 
tion the  vital  distinction  between  philosophy  and 
faith.  He  was  constantly  heard  to  repeat  that  "  the 
writings  of  the  apostles  and  pro^Dliets  are  more  cer- 
tain and  sublime  than  all  the  sophisms  and  theology 
of  the  schools." 

"  "Within  my  heart,"  he  was  accustomed  to  add, 
"reigns  alone,  and  must  reign  alone,  faith  in  my 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  alone  is  the  beginning,  the 
middle,  and  the  end  of  my  thoughts." 

"  He  who  receives  Christ  as  a  Saviour,"  he  said 

*  Luther's  Latiu  Op.  W.  XVI.,  p.  20G1. 

t  D'Aubigne's  Hist,  of  the  Keformation,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  203,  204. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  105 

again,  "has  ixace;  and  not  only  peace,  but  purity 
of  heart." 

Taking  up  the  battle-axe  of  the  gospel,  he  smote 
to  ruin  that  usurped  throne  from  which  Aristotle 
and  Thomas  Aquinas  governed,  the  one  philosophy, 
the  other  theology.* 

On  the  8th  of  February,  1515,  he  'wrote  his  friend 
Lange,  "Aristotle,  Porphyry,  and  the  sententiary 
divines  are  useless  studies  in  our  days.  I  desire 
nothing  more  earnestly  than  to  unveil  to  the  world 
that  comedian  who  has  deceived  the  church  by 
assuming  a  Greek  mask,  and  to  show  his  deformity 
to  aU."t 

On  the  18th  of  May,  1516,  a  little  more  than  a 
year  later,  he  was  able  to  write  again  to  the  same 
valued  coadjutor,  "  God  is  at  work.  Our  theology 
and  St,  Augustine  advance  admirably,  and  prevail 
in  our  university.  Aristotle  is  dechning  ;  he  is  tot- 
tering towards  his  eternal  ruin,  which  is  near  at 
hand.  The  lectures  on  sentences  produce  nothing 
but  weariness.  No  one  can  hope  for  hearers,  unless 
he  professes  the  biblical  theology.''^ 

While  the  Scriptures  were  being  thus  elevated 
to  their  appropriate  dignity  and  influence  at  Wit- 
temberg,  the  Saxon  monk  was  broadening  his  fame 
and  strengthening  his  hold  upon  his  contemporaries 
by  opening  a   correspondence  with  a  number  of 

*  "  Ai-istotelem  in  philosopliicis,  sanctum  Tliomani  in  theolo- 
gicis,  evertendos  siisceperat."    Palla\4cini,  I.,  16. 
t  L.  Epp.,  L,  15. 
X  Ibid.,  I.,  57. 

5* 


106  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

those  learned  and  progressive  spirits  wlio  lend  a 
lustre  to  that  epoch. 

It  was  in  this  way  that  he  now  formed  a  friend- 
ship which  has  become  historic,  and  which  was  of 
great  importance  to  him  throughout  his  hfe. 

"  There  was  at  that  time  at  the  elector's  court 
a  person  remarkable  for  his  wisdom  and  candor: 
this  was  George  S23alatin.  He  was  born  at  Spala- 
tus  or  Spalt,  in  the  bishopric  of  Eichstadt,  and  had 
been  originally  curate  of  the  village  of  Hohenrich, 
near  the  Thuringian  forests.  He  was  afterwards 
chosen  by  Frederick  the  "Wise  to  be  his  secretary, 
chaplain,  and  tutor  to  his  nephew  John  Frederick, 
who  was  one  day  to  wear  the  electoral  crown. 

"Spalatin  was  a  simple-hearted  man  in  the  midst 
of  the  court ;  he  appeared  timid  in  the  presence  of 
great  events ;  circumspect  and  prudent,  like  his  mas- 
ter, before  the  ardent  Luther,  with  whom  he  corre- 
sponded daily.  Such  men  are  necessary;  they  are 
like  those  delicate  substances  in  which  jewels  and 
crystals  are  wrapped  to  secure  them  from  the  inju- 
ries of  transport.  They  seem  useless,  and  yet  with- 
out them  all  these  precious  objects  would  be  broken 
and  lost. 

"  Spalatin  was  not  a  man  to  effect  great  under- 
takings ;  but  he  faithfully  and  noiselessly  performed 
the  task  imposed  upon  him.  He  was  at  first  one  of 
the  principal  aids  of  his  master  in  collecting  those 
relics  of  saints  of  which  Frederick  was  so  long  a 
great  admirer.  But  he,  as  well  as  the  prince,  turned 
by  degrees  towards  the  truth.      The  faith  which 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  107 

then  reappeared  in  tlie  cliurcli  did  not  lay  such  yio- 
lent  liold  upon  liim  as  upon  Luther ;  it  guided  him 
by  slower  methods.  He  became  Luther's  friend  at 
court :  the  minister  through  whom  passed  all  mat- 
'  ters  between  the  reformer  and  the  princes  ;  the  me- 
diator between  the  church  and  the  state. 

"  The  elector  honored  Spalatin  with  great  inti- 
macy. They  always  travelled»together  in  the  same 
carriage.  Nevertheless  the  atmosphere  of  the  court 
oppressed  the  good  chaplain ;  he  was  affected  by  a 
profound  melancholy  ;  he  could  have  desired  to  quit 
all  these  honors,  and  become  once  more  a  simple 
pastor  in  the  forests  of  Thuringia.  But  Luther  con- 
soled him,  and  exhorted  him  to  remain:  at  his  post. 

"  Spalatin  acquired  general  esteem  ;  princes  and 
learned  men  showed  him  the  most  sincere  regard. 
Erasmus  used  to  say,  '  I  inscribe  Spalatin's  name 
not  only  among  those  of  my  principal  friends,  but 
still  further,  among  those  of  my  most  honored 
protectors ;  and  that  not  upon  paper,  but  on  my 
heart.'  "- 

To  Spalatin  Luther  poured  out  his  full  heart, 
laid  bare  his  hopes,  his  fears,  and  detailed  the  prog- 
ress he  was  making  in  his  warfare  against  scholasti- 
cism at  Wittemberg. 

Writing  to  another  friend,  the  monk  George 
Spenbein,  in  1516,  he  said,  "  I  desire  to  know  what 
your  soul  is  doing ;  whether,  wearied  at  length  of 
its  own  righteousness,  it  leans  to  refresh  itself  and 
to  rest  in  the  righteousness  of  Christ.  The  temp- 
*  D'Aiibigne's  Hist,  of  the  Ref,,  Vol.  I.,  pp.107,  208. 


108  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

tation  of  presumption  in  our  age  is  strong  in  many, 
and  especially  in  those  wlio  labor  to  be  just  and 
good  witli  all  tlieir  might,  and  at  the  same  time  are 
ignorant  of  the  righteousness  of  God,  which  in 
Christ  is  conferred  upon  us  with  a  rich  exuberance 
of  gratuitous  liberality.  They  seek  in  themselves 
to  work  that  which  is  good,  in  order  that  they  may 
have  a  confidence  of  -standing  before  God  adorned 
with  virtues  and  merits,  which  is  an  impossible 
attempt. 

"  You,  my  friend,  used  to  be  of  this  same  opin- 
ion, or  rather  this  same  mistake ;  so  was  I ;  but 
now  I  am  fighting  against  the  error,  but  have  not 
yet  prevailed."* 

"Thus,"  says  an  eloquent  historian,  "the  doc- 
trine of  grace,  which  had  already  saved  the  world 
in  the  days  of  the  apostles,  and  which  was  a  second 
time  to  save  it  in  the  days  of  the  reformers,  was  set 
forth  by  Luther  fearlessly  and  clearly.  Beaching 
across  many  centuries  of  ignorance  and  superstition, 
he,  in  this,  gave  his  hand  to  St.  Paul." 

•  Seckendorf  s  Hist,  of  Lutlierauism,  p.  20. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEE  109 


CHAPTER  IX. 

In  the  year  1516,  tlie  elector,  having  completed 
the  grand  cathedral  at  Wittemberg,  whose  founda- 
tions had  been  already  laid  when  Luther  preached 
his  first  sermon  in  the  half-ruined  chapel  of  the 
Augustinians,  dispatched  Staupitz  into  the  Nether- 
lands to  collect  relics  for  the  ornamentation  of  the 
new  edifice.  Meantime  the  vicar-general  commis- 
sioned Luther  to  replace  him  during  his  absence, 
requesting  him  especially  to  visit  forty  monasteries 
of  theii'  order  in  Misnia  and  Thuringia.* 

In  conformity  with  this  commission,  Luther  quit- 
ted for  a  time  his  Wittemberg  duties,  and  set  out 
upon  his  tour  of  inspection.  He  went  first  to  Grim- 
ma,  thence  to  Dresden,  to  Mentz,  to  Erfurth — 
"  appearing  to  discharge  the  fimctions  of  vicar-gen- 
eral in  that  very  convent  where,  eleven  years  be- 
fore, he  had  wound  up  the  clock,  opened  the  gates, 
and  swept  out  the  chapel " — and  to  Neustadt  on  the 
Orla. 

In  many  of  these  monasteries  even  the  external 
evidences  of  Christianity  were  no  longer  to  be  seen. 
Dissension  and  bitterness  reigned  in  reHgious  houses 
which  had  been  formally  set  aside  and  consecrated 
to  brotherly  love  and  God's  service.  Luther's  wis- 
dom and  charity  were  conspicuously  exhibited  at 
this  time.     When  at  Dresden,  he  was  informed  that 

*  D'Aubigne's  History  of  the  Eeformatiou,  Vol.  I.,  p.  220. 


110  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

one  of  the  monks  liacl  fled  from  his  monastery,  and 
had  been  received  bj  the  prior  of  the  Augustines  at 
Mentz.  Thereupon  Luther  wrote  requesting  the 
prior  to  return  the  stray  sheep  to  his  own  fold,  add- 
ing these  gentle  words : 

"  I  know  that  offences  must  needs  come.  It  is 
no  marvel  that  man  falls  ;  but  it  is  so,  that  he  rises 
again,  and  stands  upright.  Peter  fell,  that  he  might 
know  that  he  was  but  a  man.  Even  in  our  days, 
the  cedars  of  Lebanon  are  seen  to  fall.  The  very 
angels — a  thing  that  exceeds  all  imagination — have 
fallen  in  heaven,  and  Adam  in  Paradise.  Why 
then  should  we  be  surprised  if  a  reed  is  shaken 
by  the  whirlwind,  or  if  a  smoking  taper  is  extin- 
guished ?"* 

Luther  appointed  his  good  friend  John  Lange, 
a  learned  and  Christian  man,  but  inclined  to  sever- 
ity and  quickness  of  temper,  to  the  priorship  of  his 
old  monastery  at  Erfurth,  particularly  exhorting 
him  to  the  exercise  of  patience  and  gentleness. 
Lange  had  had  a  severe  quarrel  with  the  prior  of 
Nuremberg,  and  Luther  wrote  him  shortly  after  his 
instalment  at  Erfurth :  "  Put  on  a  sj)irit  of  meekness 
towards  the  prior  of  Nuremberg ;  this  is  but  jDroj^er, 
seeing  that  he  has  assumed  a  spirit  of  bitterness 
and  harshness.  Bitterness  is  not  expelled  by  bit- 
terness ;  that  is  to  say,  the  devil  by  the  devil ;  but 
sweetness  dispels  bitterness;  that  is  to  say,  the 
finger  of  God  casts  out  the  evil  spirit."i' 

After  an  absence  of  six  weeks,  during  which 
*  L.  Epp.  XVII.  t  Hjii^l-  i;  36. 


OF  3IAETIN  LUTHER.  Ill 

time  lie  liacl  done  liis  utmost  to  inculcate  his  funda- 
mental doctrine,  that  "  Holy  Scripture  alone  shows 
us  the  way  to  heaven,"  and  exerted  all  his  powers 
of  eloquence  to  persuade  his  Augustinian  brethren 
to  "dwell  together  in  unity,"  holiness,  and  peace, 
the  young  doctor  returned  to  Wittemberg. 

"  There  is  no  doubt,"  says  a  historian  of  those 
times,  "  that  much  good  seed  was  sown  in  the  dif- 
ferent Augustine  convents  during  this  journey  of 
the  reformer.  The  monastic  orders  which  had  long 
been  the  support  of  Borne,  did  perhaps  more  for  the 
Keformation  than  against  it.  .  This  is  true  in  par- 
ticular of  the  Augustines,  Almost  all  the  pious 
men  of  liberal  and  elevated  mind  who  were  living 
in  the  cloisters  turned  towards  the  gospel.  A  new 
and  generous  blood  ere  long  circulated  through 
these  orders,  which  were,  so  to  speak,  the  arteries 
of  the  German  church. 

"  As  yet  little  was  known  in  the  world  of  the 
new  ideas  of  the  Wittemberg  Augustine,  while  they 
were  already  the  chief  topic  of  conversation  in  the 
chapters  and  monasteries.  Many  a  cloister  thus 
became  a  nursery  of  reformers.  As  soon  as  the 
great  struggle  took  place,  pious  and  able  men  issued 
from  their  obscurity,  and  abandoning  the  seclusion 
of  a  monastic  life,  entered  upon  the  active  career  of 
ministers  of  God's  word.  At  the  period  of  this  in- 
spection of  1516,  Luther  awaked  many  drowsy  souls 
by  his  words.  Hence  this  year  has  been  named 
'  the  morning  star  of  the  gospel  day.' " 

Upon  reaching  Wittemberg,  Luther  discovered 


112  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

that  the  affairs  of  the  university  had  fallen  into 
some  disorder  during  his  absence.  He  was  accord- 
ingly obliged,  without  pausing  to  rest  from  the  se- 
vere labors  of  his  recent  visitation,  to  overwhelm 
himself  with  work. 

On  the  26tli  of  October,  1516,  he  wrote  John 
Lange,  "I  have  need  almost  continually  of  two  sec- 
retaries, for  I  do  nothing  all  the  day  long  but  write 
letters.  I  am  preacher  to  the  convent,  I  read  the 
prayers  at  table,  I  am  pastor  and  parish  minister, 
director  of  studies,  the  prior's  vicar — that  is  to  sa}^, 
prior  eleven  times  over — inspector  of  th^  fish-ponds 
at  Litzkau,  counsel  to  the  inns  of  Her?berg  at  Tor- 
gau,  lecturer  on  St.  Paul,  and  commentator  on  the 
Psalms.  ...  I  have  rarely  time  to  repeat  the  daily 
prayers  and  sing  a  hymn ;  without  speaking  of  my 
struggles  with  flesh  and  blood,  with  the  devil  and  the 
world.     Learn  from  this  what  an  idle  man  I  am."- 

In  this  same  month  of  October,  Luther's  cares 
were  aggravated  by  the  appearance  of  the  plague  at 
Wittemberg.  Of  course  this  dreaded  epidemic  cre- 
ated great  excitement,  and  half  depopulated  the 
town.  Teachers,  students,  and  citizens  alike  fled. 
In  the  midst  of  the  excitement,  the  brave  and  j)lacid 
monk  wrote  Lange,  "I  am  not  certain  that  the 
plague  will  let  me  finish  the  epistle  to  the"  Gala- 
tians.  Its  attacks  are  sudden  and  violent.  It  is 
making  great  ravages  among  the  young  in  particu- 
lar. You  advise  me  to  fly.  Whither  shall  I  fly  ?  I 
hope  that  the  world  will  not  come  to  an  end  if  broth- 

*  Letter  to  Jolin  Lange,  Ei>ii.  L,  ]}.  41. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  113 

er  Martin  dies.  If  the  pestilence  spreads,  I  shall 
disperse  the  brothers  in  every  direction;  but  as  for 
me,  my  place  is  here ;  duty  does  not  permit  me  to 
desert  my  post  until  He  who  has  called  me  shall 
summon  me  away.  Not  that  I  have  no  fear  of 
death — for  I  am  not  St.  Paul,  I  am  only  his  com- 
mentator— but  I  hope  that  the  Lord  will  deliver  me 
from  fear."" 

Luther's  courage  on  this  occasion  is  above  all 
earthly  praise.  It  gave  a  very  significant  indica- 
tion of  what-  Ifcis  course  would  be  when  he  was  con- 
vinced thai»  duty  with  her  finger  pointed  out  the 
way. 

About  this  time  Spalatin  wrote  Luther  from 
Leipsic,  informing  him  of  the  return  of  Stanpitz 
from  the  Netlierlands,where  he  had  been  successful 
in  reaping  a  rich  harvest  of  relics.  Spalatin  fur- 
ther afiirmed  that  Frederick  was  much  pleased  with 
Stanpitz,  and  thought  that  a  bishopric  was  the  only 
recompense  worthy  of  his  services. 

Upon  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  Luther  speedily 
disj)atched  a  missive  to  his  friend  couched  in 
language  strongly  condemnatory  of  this  scheme. 
"  There  are,"  he  wrote,  "  many  things  which  please 
your  j)rince,  and  which  nevertheless  are  displeasing 
to  God.  I  do  not  deny  that  he  is  skilful  in  the 
matters  of  this  world,  but  in  what  concerns  God 
and  the  salvation  of  souls  I  account  him,  as  well  as 
his  counsellor  Pfeffinger,  sevenfold  blind.  I  do  not 
say  this  behind  their  backs,  like  a  slanderer;  do 
*  Letter  to  John  Lange,  Epp,  I.,  p.  42. 


114  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

not  conceal  it  from  them,  for  I  am  ready  myself,  and 
on  all  occasions,  to  tell  it  them  both  to  their  faces. 
Why  would  you  surround  this  poor  Staupitz  with  all 
the  whirlwinds  and  tempests  of  episcopal  cares?"- 

We  are  assured  that  Frederick  was  not  offended 
by  Luther's  frank  rebuke,  but  on  the  contrary  often 
spoke  of  him  in  high  and  honorable  terms,  and 
shortly  after  sent  him  some  fine  cloth  for  a  gown. 
Luther  informed  Spalatin  that  he  should  think  it 
"  too  fine,  if  it  were  not  a  prince's  gift."  He  added, 
"I  am  not  worthy  that  any  man  should  think  of 
me,  much  less  a  prince,  and  so  -great  a  prince  as 
Frederick.  Those  are  my  best  friends  who  think 
worst  of  me.  Thank  our  prince  for  his  kindness  to 
me,  biit  I  cannot  allow  myself  to  be  praised  either  by 
you  or  by  any  man ;  for  all  praise  of  man  is  vain, 
and  only  that  which  comes  fi"om  God  is  true."t 

In  July,  1517,  George,  duke  of  Saxony,  uncle 
of  the  elector  Frederick,  and  afterwards  a  deter- 
mined opponent  of  the  Reformation,  requested  Stau- 
pitz to  recommend  to  him  some  learned  and  elo- 
quent preacher.  Luther  was  instantly  suggested, 
and  he  shortly  received  from  the  prince  an  invita- 
tion to  visit  Dresden,  and  to  j)reacli  in  the  castle 
chapel  on  the  feast  of  St.  James  the  Elder. 

Luther  accordingly  repaired  to  Dresden,  and 
preached  there  before  a  crowded  auditory  and  with 
great  effect,  though  his  boldness  and  reformatory 
doctrines  displeased  the  haughty  Saxon  prince,  who 
muttered  angrily  at  dinner,  "I  would  give  a  large 
*  Luther's  L.,  Epp.  L,  25.  t  Ibicl.,  Epp.  45. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  115 

sum  not  to  have  heard  this  monk,  for  such  dis- 
courses are  only  calculated  to  make  people  sin  with 
assurance."" 

Jerome  Emser,  then  a  licentiate  in  canon  law, 
counsellor,  and  secretary  to  the  duke,  who  was 
shortly  after  to  break  so  many  intellectual  lances 
with  Luther,  had  listened  to  the  young  monk's  ser- 
mon with  deep  attention,  and  it  fell  to  his  duty  to 
do  the  honors  of  the  Dresden  palace  to  his  master's 
guest. 

This  subtle  and  intriguing  lawyer,  hoping  to 
entrap  the  Saxon  monk  into  some  .  expression  of 
heretical  sentiment,  brought  in  a  number  of  school- 
men to  argue  with  him,  and  then  stationing  a  Do- 
minican at  the  door  to  overhear  the  conversation, 
went  with  a  smiling  face  but  a  treacherous  heart, 
and  invited  Luther  to  walk  into  his  trap  by  accept- 
ing an  invitation  to  sup  with  him.  Luther,  feeling 
somewhat  indisposed,  at  first  refused,  but  as  Emser 
pressed  him,  he  went,  and  was  surprised  to  find  such 
a  company  collected.  It  was  not  long  ere  the  cun- 
ning secretary  managed  to  make  the  conversation 
drift  into  a  theological  current. 

Luther,  who  was  instant  in  season  and  out  of 
season  in  his  Lord's  service,  determined  to  seize 
this  opportunity  to  stab  scholasticism  in  the  very 
house  of  its  friends.  A  perfect  master  of  the  cavil- 
ling dialectics  of  the  schoolmen,  singularly  gifted  in 
conversation,  familiar  with  every  weapon  in  the  in- 
tellectual armory,  this  champion  of  the  Bible  speed- 
*  Mathesius. 


116  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

ily  discomfited  the  upstart  pedants  who  had  been 
imported  from  Leipsic  by  Emser,  and  by  his  brill- 
iancy of  repartee,  his  wealth  of  illustration,  and  his 
pungency  of  satire,  soon  actually  drove  his  adversa- 
ries fr'om  the  table  in  a  rage. 

Emser,  with  hatred  gnawing  at  his  heart  on  ac- 
count of  his  defeat,  dissembled  to  Luther,  and  was 
profuse  in  his  apologies  for  the  manner  in  which 
the  evening  had  passed,*  while  the  young  professor 
returned  to  Wittemberg  praising  God,  who  had 
given  him  the  victory. 

.  *  Luther's  L. ,  Epp.  I. ,  85. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  117 


CHAPTER  X. 

Luther's  religious  state  at  this  time  lias  been 
already  carefully  traced.  He  had  received  the  grace 
of  Christ,  and  well  knew  the  only  true  way  of  sal- 
vation, though  in  his  own  eyes  he  was  weak  in  the 
faith.* 

He  both  felt  and  preached  those  fundamental 
principles  of  the  gospel  upon  which  the  Reforma- 
tion was  based,  some  years  before  he  w^as  launched 
into  open  conflict  with  the  Roman  see.  Nay,  more, 
he  had  not  yet  perceived  the  irreconcilable  differ- 
ence between  the  doctrines  he  taught  and  the  papal 
formulas.  Although  he  proclaimed  that  "  sin  is 
freely  pardoned  on  account  of  the  Son  of  God,  and 
that  man  receives  this  blessing  through  faith,"  he 
made  no  change  in  the  ceremonies  of  the  church. 
"  On  the  contrary,'"  says  Melancthou,  "  the  estab- 
lished discipline  had  not  in  his  order  a  more  faith- 
ful observer  and  defender.  But  he  endeavored 
more  and  more  to  make  all  understand  those  grand 
and  essential  truths  of  conversion,  of  the  remission 
of  sins,  of  faith,  and  of  the  consolation  that  is  to  be 
found  in  the  cross.  Pious  minds  were  struck  and 
penetrated  by  the  sweetness  of  this  doctrine  ;  the 
learned  received  it  with  joy.  One  would  have  said 
that  Christ,  the   apostles,  and  the  prophets  were 

«  Miluer's  Chm-ch  History,  Vol.  I.,  p.  213. 


118  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

now  issuing  from  tlie  obscurity  of   some  squalid 
dungeon."* 

Excellent  men  had  proclaimed  many  of  these 
truths  before ;  and  yet,  through  inadvertency,  or 
because  they  had  remained  unconscious  of  the  man- 
ifold absurdities  of  Eomanism,  died  obedient  chil- 
dren of  the  church.  Luther's  modesty,  love  of 
peace,  and  attachment  to  order,  might  have  held 
him  fettered  to  the  pontifical  throne,  had  not  God, 
who  had  decreed  as  a  necessity  the  radical  refor- 
mation of  the  corruptions  of  the  Roman  hierarchy, 
now  ordered  an  event  which  drew  the  Wittemburcj 
professor  undesignedly  into  a  contest  so  salutary  to 
Christian  liberty,  so  grandly  beneficent  to  Christen- 
dom. 

On  its  part,  the  papacy  still  slumbered  in  tranquil 
ignorance  of  the  danger  that  menaced  its  omnipo- 
tence. If  it  had  ever  heard  of  Luther  and  his 
doctrines,  it  had  heard  only  to  smile  at  all  thought 
of  danger  from  the  new-fledged  tenets  of  an  ob- 
scure German  monk,  who  expounded  his  creed  to  an 
ignorant  rabble  of  barbaxous  students  at  an  unknown 
university  buried  in  the  depths  of  the  Thuringian 
forest.  Had  not  men,  from  the  thirteenth  century, 
been  disputing  with  its  theologians,  and  raihng 
against  its  formulas  to  their  own  bloody  destruc- 
tion ?  Had  it  not,  indeed,  been  lulled  to  sleep  by 
the  dull  and  uniform  clatter  of  the  schools? 

Surrounded   by  the   satellites   of   his  brilhant 

«  "  Quasi  ex  tenebris,  carcere,  squalore,  cduci  Christum,  pro- 
phetas,  apostlos."    Melancthon's  Vita  Lutheri. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  119 

court,  supported  by  tlie  sciences,  tlie  fine  arts,  and 
tlie  letters  of  his  age,  Leo  might  gaze  proiidly  from 
his  ecclesiastical  throne  over  the  universe  lassoed  in 
servile  submission  at  his  feet,  and  say  complacently, 
"  My  mountain  stands  strong ;  I  shall  never  be 
moved." 

Leo  X.  had,  as  we  have  seen,*  assumed  the  tiara 
in  1513.  Addicted  to  the  most  expensive  personal 
habits,  this  luxurious  pontiff,  besides  those  fabulous 
amounts  which  he  lavished  upon  his  ecclesiastical 
establishment,  yearly  expended  immense  sums  in 
the  collection  and  transcription  of  rare  manuscripts, 
dispatching  agents  for  that  purpose  to  the  four  cor- 
ners of  the  globe,  scattering  them  throughout  Eu- 
rope, and  through  Egypt,  Syria,  Irak,  and  Persia. 

With  so  many  avenues  of  ex2:»ense  already  open 
and  in  active  use,  a  new  one  had  been  created  by 
the  efforts  to  finish  the  magnificent  cathedral  of  St. 
Peter's  at  Rome,  which  had  been  designed  by 
Michael  Angelo  in  the  preceding  pontifical  reign, 
and  which  Julius  II.  had  dedicated,  on  his  death,  to 
his  successor  as  a  sacred  legacy,  urging  that  every 
nerve  should  be  strained  for  its  early  completion. 
The  heavy  demands  made  upon  the  Eoman  treas- 
ury by  these  magnificent  projects  taxed  to  the 
utmost  the  financial  skill  of  the  pope  and  his  ad- 
visers. 

But  Cardinal  Pucci,  then  minister  of  the  ex- 
chequer, was  almost  as  ingenious  in  the  art  of  amass- 
ing inoney  as  the  pontiff' was  in  that  of  expending  it. 
*  Chapter  VII.,  p.  9G. 


120  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

By  Lis  advice,  Leo  had  commenced  his  pontifi- 
cate by  selHng  to  Francis  I.  what  did  not  belong 
to  him,  the  rights  of  the  church  of  France.*  On  the 
13th  of  June,  1517,  the  pope,  as  a  means  of  raising 
money,  created  thirty-one  cardinals  at  one  stroke 
of  the  pen.  That  same  day  it  was  noted  by  the 
populace,  as  ominous  of  approaching  evil,  that  a 
storm  overthrew  tjie  angel  that  stood  on  the  top  of 
the  castel  di  San  Angelo,  struck  an  infant  Jesus  in 
a  church,  and  knocked  the  keys  out  of  the  hands  of 
a  statue  of  St.  Peter.f 

But  these  proceedings  were  peccadilloes  compar- 
ed with  the  impious  usurpations  of  authority  which 
followed. 

"  Leo,"  says  Micheldt,  "  had  no  Mexico  to  which 
he  might  have  recourse.  His  mines  were  the  old 
faith  of  the  nations,  their  easy  credulity.  He  had 
intrusted  the  Avorkings  of  this  mine  in  Germany  to 
the  Dominicans.":!: 

The  money  raised  from  the  French  king,  and 
from  the  creation  of  the  mushroom  cardinals,  having 
leaked  out  of  his  treasury,  Leo  next  had  recourse 
to  the  sale  of  what  were  termed  "  indulgences,"  as- 
suring the  faithful  in  his  bull  that  the  sums  thus 
realized  should  be  apphed  to  the  erection  of  Angelo's 
temple  of  sacerdotal  magnificence. 

This  papal  doctrine  of  indulgences,  which  has 
always   figured   more  or  less   prominently  in   the 

*  Micliclet's  History  of  Luther,  p.  20. 
t  Rucliixl,  I.  36. 
J  Michelet. 


-  OF  MAETIN  LUTPIEE.  121 

records  of  the  Roman  see,  Avas  at  this  time  in  the 
highest  reputation. 

The  grounds  upon  which  this  doctrine  rests  are 
described  substantially  in  these  words,  by  one  of 
the  ablest  thinkers  and  stoutest  champions  of  the 
popish  creed,  Bossu^t,  bishop  of  Means  :  "  The 
church  imposes  painful  works  upon  offenders  :  these 
being  undergone  with  humility  are  called,  in  the 
technical  language  of  the  theologians,  '  satisfac- 
tions ;'  Avlien,  regarding  the  fervor  of  the  penitents, 
or  their  other  good  works,  she  remits  some  part  of 
the  task,  this  is  called  an  '  indulgence.'  For  the 
infinite  satisfaction  of  Christ  may  be  applied  by  the 
church  either  in  the  entire  remission  of  sins  without 
any  punishment,  or  in  the  substitution  of  a  smaller 
punishment  for  a  greater  one.""  Bossuet  supports 
this  declaration  by  the  authority  of  the  council  of 
Trent,  one  of  whose  articles  of  faith  reads  thus  : 
"  The  power  to  grant  indulgences  has  been  com- 
mitted to  the  church  by  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  use  of 
them  is  beneficial  to  salvation."t 

The  celebrated  churchman  just  quoted  further 
observes,  "  Those  who  depart  this  life  indebted  to 
divine  justice  for  offences  not  atoned  for,  must 
suffer  for  them  in  the  future  life  in  the  state  of  pur- 
gatory.":!; 

He  then  describes  how  reliefs  are  provided  in  this 

*  Bossuet's  "  Exposition  of  the  Doctiiues  of  the  Catholic  Church 
in  Matters  of  Controversy." 

t  Vide  records  of  the  council  of  Trent. 
I  Bossuet's  Expositions,  etc. 

Luther.  Q 


122  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

case  also,  how  indulgences  extend  beyond  tlie  grave, 
and  how  the  living  friends  of  those  deceased  might 
effect  their  deliverance  from  the  purgatorial  j^angs 
by  a  prescribed  formula  of  commutation  for  their 
offences,  which  should  be  held  to  be  valid  in  heaven. 
The  foundation  of  the  whole  system  Avas  this : 
There  was  supposed  to  be  an  infinite  treasure  of 
merit  in  Christ  and  the  saints,  which  was  much  more 
than  sufficient  for  themselves.  Thus,  what  is  true 
of  the  Saviour  was  asserted  also  of  the  saints,  that 
they  had  done  works  of  supererogation.  This  su- 
pererogation was  deposited  with  the  church,  A\dtli 
plenary  power  over  it,  and  it  might  be  disposetl  of 
at  the  discretion  of  the  see  of  Rome. 

It  may  easily  be  conceived  what  a  source  of  in- 
fluence and  profit  the  universal  belief  in  this  doctrine 
might  become  in  the  hands  of  a  horde  of  rapacious 
and  unscrupulous  priests.  If  the  pope  required 
money  to  satisfy  the  wants  of  his  mistress,  to  com- 
plete the  erection  of  a  church,  to  squander  upon 
parasite  prelates,  or  to  publish  the  books  of  Roman 
poets  and  historians,^  he  issued  a  bull  announcing 
a  general  indulgence :  instantly  the  pontiff  rolled 
in  wealth  ;  for  the  jDardon  of  God,  hawked  in  the 
churches,  the  streets,  the  taverns,  and  the  ale- 
houses of  Christendom  by  perambulating  monks  as 
a  saleable  commodity,  found  speedy  purchase  from 

■-■  In  November  of  1517,  Leo  required  of  his  commissary  of 
inclulgeuces  147  gold  ducats  to  purchase  a  MS.  of  the  33d  book  of 
Livy.  "It  was  a  strange  thing,"  remarks  D'Anbigne,  "to  deliver 
Bouls  fi'om  purgatory,  to  procure  the  means  of  purchasing  a  manu- 
script history  of  the  Eoman  wars !" 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEK.  123 

those  multitudes  wlio  are  unwilling  to  undergo 
themselves,  or  to  suffer  their  deceased  Mends  to 
undergo,  a  course  of  severe  penance  or  of  un- 
pleasant austerities,  when  they  might  indulge  in 
any  wickedness  they  chose,  and  still  be  sure  of  the 
remission  of  their  sins  if  they  could  commute  for 
them  by  pecuniary  payments.* 

It  M'as  then  to  this  system,  at  once  so  prolific 
and  so  scandalous,  that  Leo  X.  now  applied  for  the 
purpose  of  replenishing  his  empty  coffers. 

Sometimes  the  popes  themselves  kept  an  over- 
sight of  the  sale  of  their  indulgences ;  but  ordinarily 
they  were  "  farmed  ovit,"  as  it  was  called,  that  is, 
taken  charge  of  by  the  higher  dignitaries  of  the 
church  in  various  countries,  who  stipulated  that 
they  should  receive  a  certain  portion  of  the  proceeds 
as  a  recompense  for  their  trouble. 

In  this  way  it  happened  that  Albert,  Ai-chbishop 
and  Elector  of  Mentz  and  of  Magdeburg,  and  brother 
of  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg,  a  youthful  prince 
who  was  a  kind  of  pocket  edition  of  Leo,  witty, 
handsome,  vain,  frivolous,  extravagant,  and  sumptu- 
ous, having  gotten  deeply  in  debt  to  the  Fuggers, 
wealthy  bankers  who  were  the  Rothschilds  of  that 
age,  being  like  the  pontiff  pressed  for  money, 
solicited  from  Leo  the  farming  of  "the  sins  of  the 
Germans,"  as  these  indulgences  were  termed  at 
Rome. 

"The  pope  and  the  archbishop,"  says  D'Aubignd, 
"having  thus  divided  beforehand  the  spoils  of  the 

«  Miluer's  Cb.  Hist.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  207. 


c 


124  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

good  souls  of  Germany,  it  was  next  a  question  wlio 
should  be  commissioned  to  realize  the  investment.. 

"  It  was  at  first  offered  to  the  Franciscans,  and 
their  superior  was  associated  with  Albert.  But 
these  monks  wished  to  have  no  share  in  it,  for  it 
was  already  in  bad  odor  among  all  good  people. 
The  Augustines,  who  were  more  enlightened  than 
the  other  religious  orders,  cared  still  less  about  it. 
The  Franciscans,  however,  feared  to  displease  the 
pope,  who  had  just  sent  a  cardinal's  hat  to  their 
general,  Forli — a  hat  that  had  cost  this  poor  mendi- 
cant order  thirty  thousand  florins. 

"  The  superior  judged  it  more  prudent  not  to 
refuse  openly,  but  he  made  all  kinds  of  objections 
to  Albert.  They  could  never  come  to  an  under- 
standing ;  and  accordingly  the  archbishop  joyfully 
accepted  the  proj^osition  to  take  the  whole  matter 
to  himself. 

"  The  Dominicans,  on  their  part,  coveted  a  share 
in  the  general  enterprise  about  to  be  set  on  foot. 
John  Tetzel,  who  had  already  acquired  great  repu- 
tation in  this  trade,  hastened  to  Mentz,  and  offered 
his  services  to  the  elector.  They  called  to  mind 
the  ability  he  had  shown  in  publishing  the  in- 
dulgences for  the  knights  of  the  Teutonic  order  of 
Prussia  and  Livonia ;  his  proposals  were  accepted, 
and  thus  the  whole  traffic  passed  into  the  hands  of 
his  order."* 

Tetzel,  the  Dominican  inquisitor  to  whom  the 
Archbishop  of  Mentz  and  Magdeburg  had  thus 
*  D'Aubigne's  Hist,  of  the  Kef.,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  259,  2G0. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHER.  125 

delegated  the  practical  part  of  his  contract  for  the 
salvation  of  souls,  was  a  man  utterly  devoid  of  even 
the  semblance  of  principle,  of  singular  impudence, 
but  bold  and  enterprising,  and  also  bringing  to  his 
congenial  mission  no  small  experience. 

Although  this  shameless  mountebank  had  been 
convicted  of  adultery,  and  of  other  infamous  crimes,* 
the  fact  did  not  seem  to  unfit  him  for  his  office — at 
least  in  the  minds  of  Albert  and  of  Leo. 

Travelling  through  Germany  with  great  pomp 
and  flourish,  he  sold  his  indulgences  in  vast  num- 
bers. He  paid  over  to  his  employers  as  little  as 
possible,  and  pocketed  the  balance,  although  the 
most  liberal  provision  had  been  made  for  him,  as 
was  afterwards  proved  by  the  pope's  legate. 

"  The  faith  of  the  buyers  diminishing,"  says 
Miche](5t,  "it  became  necessary  to  exaggerate  to  the 
fullest  extent  the  merit  of  the  specific ;  the  article 
had  been  so  long  in  the  market,  and  in  such  great 
supply,  that  the  demand  was  falling  off.  The 
intrepid  Tetzel  stretched  his  rhetoric  to  the  very 
utmost  bounds  of  amplification.  Daringly  piling 
one  lie  upon  another,  he  set  forth  in  reckless  display 
the  long  list  of  evils  which  his  panacea  could  cure, 

"He  did  not  content  himself  with  enumerating 
known  sins :  he  set  his  foul  imagination  to  work 
and  invented  crimes,  infamous  atrocities,  strange, 
unheard  of,  un thought'  of ;  and  when  he  saw  his 
audience  standing  aghast  at  each  horrible  sugges- 
tion, he  would  calmly  repeat  the  burden  of  his  song, 
*  Miluei's  Ch.  Hist.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  210. 


126  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

'Well,  all  this  is  expiated  tlie  moment  your  money 
chinks  in  the  pope's  chest.'  "* 

Myconius  assures  us  that  he  himself  heard  Tet- 
zel  harangue  with  incredible  effrontery  concerning 
the  unlimited  power  of  the  pope  and  of  indulgences.f 

«-  Michelet's  Life  of  Lutli.  p.  21. 

t  Myconius'  MS.  Hist,  of  the  Eef 

"  The  youthful  Myconius  was  one  of  Tetzel's  hearers.  He  felt 
an  ardent  clesu'e  to  take  advantage  of  this  offer.  'I  am  a  poor 
sinner, '  said  he  in  Latin  to  the  commissioners,  '  and  I  have  need 
of  a  gratuitous  pardon.'  'Those  alone,'  replied  the  merchants, 
'can  have  Christ's  merits  vs^ho  lend  a  helping  hand  to  the  church  ; 
that  is  to  say,  who  give  money.'  'AVhat  is  the  meaning  then,' 
asked  Myconius,  '  of  those  promises  of  a  free  gift  posted  on  the 
gates  and  walls  of  the  churches  V  '  Give  at  least  a  groat, '  said  Tet- 
zel's people,  after  having  vainlj'^  interceded  with  their  master  in 
favor  of  the  young  man.  '  I  cannot. '  '  Only  six  deniers. '  '  I  am 
not  worth  so  many.'  The  Dominicans  begin  to  fear  that  he  came 
on  purpose  to  entrap  them. 

"  'Listen,'  said  they  ;  'we  will  make  you  a  present  of  the  six 
deniers.'  The  young  man  rei^lied  indignantly,  'I  will  have  no 
bought  indulgences.  If  I  desu-ed  to  buy  them,  I  should  only  have 
to  seU  one  of  my  school-books.  I  desire  a  gratuitous  pardon,  and 
for  the  love  of  God  alone.  You  wiU  render  an  account  to  God  for 
having  allowed  a  soul  to  be  lost  for  six  deniers.'  'Who  sent  you 
to  entrap  us  ?'  exclaimed  the  venders.  '  Nothing  but  the  desii'e  to 
receive  God's  pardon  could  have  made  me  appear  before  such 
great  gentlemen,'  repUed  the  young  man  as  he  -withdrew. 

"  'I  was  very  sad  at  being  thus  sent  away  unpitied.  Biit  I  felt 
a  comforter  within  me,  who  said  that  there  was  a  God  in  heaven 
who  pardons  reijentant  souls  ■without  money  and  without  price, 
for  the  love  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ.  As  I  took  leave  of  these 
folks,  the  Holy  Spirit  touched  my  heart.  I  burst  into  tears  and 
prayed  to  the  Lord  with  anguish.  'Oh  God,'  cried  I,  'since  these 
men  have  refused  to  remit  my  sins  because  I  wanted  money  to 
pay  them,  do  thou.  Lord,  have  pity  on  me,  and  pardon  of  thy 
pure  grace.'  I  repaired  to  my  chamber  ;  I  prayed  to  my  crucifix, 
which  was  lying  on  my  desk  ;  I  put  it  on  the  chair  and  fell  down 
before  it.  I  cannot  describe  to  you  what  I  exijerienced.  I 
begged  God  to  be  a  father  to  me,  and  to  do  with  me  whatever  he 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  127 

"This  frontless  mouk,"  says  another  distinguish- 
ed ecclesiastical  historian,  "not  only  executed  his 
iniquitous  mission  with  matchless  insolence,  inde- 
cenc}^  and  fraud,  but  even  carried  his  impiety  so  far 
as  to  derogate  from  the  all-sufficient  power  and  in- 
fluence of  the  merits  of  Christ,"" 

Some  readers  may  be  curious  to  see  the  ipsissima 
verba  of  one  of  Tetzel's  indulgences.  This  was  the 
formula : 

"Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  have  mercy  on  thee,  N. 
N.,  and  absolve  thee  by  the  merits  of  his  most  holy 
suiferings.  And  I,  in  virtue  of  the  apostolic  power 
committed  to  me,  absolve  thee  from  all  ecclesiastical 
censures,  judgments,  and  penalties  that  thou  may  est 
have  merited ;  and  further,  from  all  excesses,  sins, 
and  crimes  that  thou  mayest  have  committed,  how- 
ever gi-eat  and  enormous  they  may  be,  and  of  what- 
ever kind,  even  though  they  should  be  reserved 
to  our  holy  father  the  pope,  and  to  the  apostolic 
see, 

"I  efface  all  the  stains  of  weakness,  and  all 
traces  of  the  shame  that  thou  mayest  have  drawn 
upon  thyself  b}'-  such  actions,  I  remit  the  pains  thou 
wouldst  have  to  endure  in  purgatory.  I  receive 
thee   again  to  the  sacraments  of   the  church.      I 

pleased.  I  felt  mj'  nature  changed,  converted,  transformed. 
What  had  delighted  rue  before,  now  became  an  object  of  disgust. 
To  live  ynih.  God  and  to  please  him  was  now  my  earnest,  my  sole 
desire. ' 

"Thus  did  Tetzel  himself  prepare  the  Eeformation."  D'Au- 
bign^. 

«  Mosheim,    Ch.  Hist. 


128  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

hereby  reincorporate  tliee  in  the  communion  of  the 
saints,  and  restore  thee  to  the  innocence  and  purity 
of  thy  baptism ;  so  that,  at  the  moment  of  death,  the 
gate  of  the  place  of  torment  shall  be  shut  against 
thee,  and  the  gate  of  the  paradise  of  joy  shall  be 
opened  unto  thee.  And  if  thou  shouldst  live  long, 
this  grace  continueth  imchangeable  till  the  time  of 
thine  end. 

"In  the  name  of  the  Father,  of  the  Son,  and  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  Amen. 

"The  brother,  John  Tetzel,  Commissary,  hath 
signed  this  with  his  own  hand. 

(Signed.)  "JOHN  tetzel. "=- 

So  ran  this  charlatan  and  blasphemous  diploma. 

Tetzel  was  accustomed  to  inculcate  such  fright- 
ful doctrines  as  these  : 

That  he  had  such  grace  and  power  from  the 
pope,  that  though  one  had  deiloured  the  virgin 
mother  of  God,  he  could  forgive  it,  provided  the 
person  placed  the  requisite  amount  of  money  in 
the  box. 

That  if  St.  Peter  were  now  here,  he  would  not 
have  greater  grace  or  power  than  he  had. 

That  he  would  not  in  heaven  exchange  places 
with  St.  Peter,  for  he  had  saved  more  souls  with  his 
indulgences  than  St.  Peter  by  his  preaching. 

Thal^  if  any  one  cast  money  into  the  box  for  a 
soul  in  purgatory,  the  soul  would  fly  up  to  heaven 
as  soon  as  the  coin  tinkled  at  the  bottom. 

That  it  was  not  necessary  to  feel  sorrow  and 
*  Maimbourg. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  121) 

grief  on  account  of  sin,  or  to  repent,  if  one  purcliased 
the  indulgences. 

That  the  red  indulgence  cross  erected  in  the 
churches,  with  the  pope's  armorial  bearings  upon 
it,  was  just  as  efficacious  as  the  cross  of  Christ. 

These,  and  many  more  similarly  absurd  and 
blasphemous  utterances,  were  bellowed  forth  by  this 
abandoned  wretch. 

All  decent  men  heard  him  with  a  mixture  of  dis- 
gust and  astonishment.  It  is  related  of  the  emperor 
Maximilian,  that  chancing  once  to  be  at  Inspruck 
when  Tetzel  was  delivering  one  of  his  foul  harangues, 
he  was  so  offended  at  the  wickedness  and  impudence 
of  the  mountebank  monk,  that  he  sentenced  him  to 
instant  death ;  ordering  him  to  be  seized,  placed  in 
a  bag,  and  flung  like  a  dog  into  the  river  Eponte. 
From  this  richly  merited  fate  the  Dominican  in- 
quisitor was  saved  by  the  solicitations  of  the  elec- 
tor Frederic,"'^  who,  fortunately  for  him,  and  for  the 
cause  of  truth,  since  his  blasphemous  discourses 
were  destined  to  provoke  the  E/eformation,  chanced 
to  be  present. 

But  Tetzel's  flagitious  career  was  about  to  be 

closed   quite   as   summarily   and  effectually  as  it 

would  have  been  if  he  had  suffered  at  Inspruck 

under  the  wrathful  decree  of  the  German  emperor. 

=■  miner's  CL.  Hist.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  211. 


6* 


130  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTEE  XI. 

It  is  stated  that  Luther  first  heard  of  Tetzel, 
though  he  does  not  appear  to  have  been  fully  in- 
formed regarding  the  nature  of  the  atrocious  doc- 
trines he  inculcated,  at  Grimma,  in  1516,  just  before 
Staupitz  left  him  for  the  Netherlands,  and  as  he  was 
commencing  the  vicar-general's  duty  of  visitation. 

Some  one,  Staupitz  perhaps,  having  repeated 
one  of  his  extravagant  expressions,  Luther  then  ex- 
claimed, "  If  God  permit,  I  will  make  a  hole  in  his 
drum."* 

In  the  following  year,  1517,  a  great  flourish  of 
trumpets  and  a  babel  of  tongues  announced  the  ap- 
proach of  the  infamous  hcense-monger  to  the  imme- 
diate neighborhood  of  Wittemberg. 

Erecting  his  red  indulgence  cross  at  Juterbock, 
four  miles  distant  from  Luther's  university,  the  scan- 
dalous priest  enacted  all  the  impious  mummeries  of 
his  extensive  repertoire. 

"  This  great  purse-thresher,"  said  Luther  after- 
wards, "began  to  thresh  bravely,  so  that  the  money 
leaped  and  fell  tinkhng  into  the  box."t 

•Although  Tetzel  drew  off  crowds  of  his  parish- 
ioners and  students  from  Wittemberg  to  his  indul- 
gence market  at  Juterbock,^  Luther  at  the  com- 
mencement paid  no  attention  to  his  harangues. 

*  Lingke,  Reisegesch.     Lutlier's,  27. 

t  Luther's  0pp.  (W.),  XVII. 

j  D'Aubigne's  Hist.  Ref.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  2G1. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  131 

At  a  later  period  lie  made  tliis  record  of  himself : 
"  I  was  at  that  time  a  monk  and  a  furious  Papist ;  so 
intoxicated,  nay,  so  drowned  in  the  Eomisli  doc- 
trines, that  I  would  have  willingly  aided,  if  I  could, 
in  killing  any  one  who  should  have  had  the  audacity 
to  refuse  the  shghtest  obedience  to  the  pope  :  I  was 
a  very  Saul,  as  there  are  many  still."*-' 

At  the  same  time  "  his  heart  was  ready  to  catch 
fire  for  every  thing  that  he  recognized  as  truth,  and 
against  every  thing  that  he  believed  to  be  error." 

It  was  in  this  memorable  year  of  1517  that  a 
number  of  persons  happened  one  day  to  present 
themselves  at  Luther's  confessional,  and  after  own- 
ing themselves  to  be  guilty  of  the  grossest  crimes — 
adultery,  licentiousness,  usury — yet  refused  to  per- 
form the  penances  imposed  upon  them  by  the  Au- 
gustiuian,  alleging  that  they  Avere  possessed  of  Tet- 
zel's  diplomas  of  indulgence,  and  reading  to  him 
these  words:  "I  absolve  thee  from  all  ecclesiasti- 
.  cal  censures,  judgments,  and  penalties  which  thou 
mayest  have  incurred ;  moreover  from  all  excesses, 
sins,  and  crimes  that  thou  mayest  have  committed, 
however  great  and  enormous  they  may  be,  and  from 
whatsoever  cause,  were  they  even  reserved  for  our 
most  holy  father  the  pope,  and  for  the  aj)ostolic 
see."t 

Horrified  at  such  audacity,  Luther  still  refused 
to  absolve  them.     He  had  no  knowledge  of  these 

*  L.  0pp.  (W.)  xxn. 

t  See  the  full  form  of  tliis  diploma  quoted  iu  the  preceding 
chapter,  pp.  127,  128. 


132  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

impious  diplomas,  he  said;  he  only  knew  that  the 
plain  declaration  of  Christ  himself  was,  "  Except  ye 
repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish."- 

"  Have  a  care,"  he  added,  "  how  you  listen  to  the 
clamors  of  these  indulgence  merchants;  you  have 
better  things  to  do  than  buy  licenses  which  they 
sell  at  so  vile  a  price."t 

Tetzel's  frightened  dupes  hastened  to  him  at  Ju- 
terbock,  where  he  still  lingered,  and  informed  him 
that  the  Augustiniau  of  AVittemberg  had  refused  to 
recognize  the  legitimacy  of  his  ojDerations,  and  would 
not  absolve  them  on  his  papers.:]: 

Myconius  informs  us  that  the  Dominican,  upon 
hearing  these  complaints,  bellowed  with  anger,  and 
rushing  to  his  pulpit,  hurled  from  it  an  avalanche 
of  insults  and  curses  upon  the  Wittemberg  pro- 
fessor. 

For  the  purpose  of  striking  greater  terror  into 
the  gaping  crowd  which  stood  watching  his  move- 
ments, he  had  a  fire  built  a  number  of  times  in  the 
public  market-place  of  Juterbock,  pretending  at  the 
same  time  that  he  had  received  an  order  from  Leo 
instantly  to  burn  at  the  stake  all  blasphemous  her- 
etics who  should  presume  to  oppose  his  most  holy 
indulgences.! 

But  Martin  Luther,  now  ripe  in  years — he  was 
at  this  time  thirty -four — learned  in  the  Scriptures, 
profoundly  versed  in  the  literature  of  the  schools, 
and  possessed  of  a  vehement  courage  which  had 

*  Luke  13  : 5.  t  L-  0pp.  Lat.  in  Preef. 

i  Meurer's  Life  of  Luther.  §  Myconiiis'  Hist.  Ref. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  133 

ever  held  liim  steadfastly  anchored  to  Avhat  he  con- 
sidered his  duty,  was  neither  to  be  deceived  nor 
alarmed  by  the  paltry  tricks,  theatrical  shows,  and 
sounding  words  of  a  charlatan  priest. 

He  therefore  took  an  early  opportunitj^  to  preach 
from  his  pulpit  in  the  castle  chapel  of  Wittemberg  a 
sermon  jn  which  he  exposed  Tetzel's  chicaneries 
with  masterly  argumentative  and  satirical  power. 
This  discourse  was  shortly  after  published,  and  it 
created  a  profound  sensation." 

On  the  31st  of  October  of  this  same  year,  1517, 
an  event  is  said  to  have  occurred  which  occa- 
sioned much  comment  at  the  time,  and  whose  truth 
is  avouched  b}^  a  number  of  credible  witnesses. 

Upon  that  morning  it  seems  that  the  elector 
Frederick  of  Saxony  was  at  his  palace  of  Schwei- 
nitz,  six  leagues  from  "Wittemberg.  He  was  accom- 
panied also  by  his  chancellor  and  by  his  brother 
John,  duke  of  Saxony,  co-regent  with  himself,  and 
who  upon  Frederick's  death  governed  their  former 
united  dominions  alone.  These  three  being  seated 
together,  the  elector  said  suddenly, 

"  I  must  tell  you  of  a  dream,  brother,  which  I 
had  last  night,  and  of  which  I  should  like  to  know 
the  meaning.  It  is  so  firmly  graven  in  my  memory 
that  I  should  never  forget  it,  even  were  I  to  live  a 
thousand  years;  for  it  came  three  times,  and  always 
with  new  circumstances." 

"  Was  it  a  good  or  a  bad  dream  ?"  queried  Duke 
John. 

*  Melancthou's  Vitii  Lutlieri.     Seckeudorf. 


134  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

"  I  cannot  tell ;  God  knows,"  responded  the 
elector. 

"Do  not  be  uneasy  about  it  then,"  said  the 
duke ;  "  let  me  hear  it." 

"Having  gone  to  bed  last  night,"  commenced 
the  elector,  "  tired  and  dispirited,  I  soon  fell 
asleep  after  saying  my  prayers,  and  I  slept 
calmly  for  about  two  hours  and  a  half.  I  then 
awoke,  and  all  kinds  of  thoughts  occupied  me  till 
midnight. 

"  I  reflected  how  I  should  keep  the  approaching 
festival  of  All  Saints.  I  prayed  for  the  wretched 
souls  in  purgatory,  and  begged  that  God  would 
direct  me,  my  councils,  and  my  people,  according 
to  the  truth. 

"  I  then  fell  asleep  again,  and  dreamed  that  the 
Almighty  sent  me  a  monk  who  was  a  true  sou  of 
the  apostle  Paul.  He  was  accompanied  by  all  the 
saints,  in  obedience  to  God's  command,  to  bear  him 
testimony,  and  to  assure  me  that  he  did  not  come 
with  any  fraudulent  design,  but  that  all  he  should 
do  was  conformable  to  the  will  of  God. 

"  They  asked  my  gracious  permission  to  let  him 
write  something  on  the  doors  of  the  palace  chapel  at 
Wittemberg,  which  I  conceded  through  my  chan- 
cellor. 

"  Upon  this  the  monk  repaired  thither  and  be- 
gan to  write.  So  large  were  the  characters,  that  I 
could  read  from  Schweinitz  what  he  was  writing. 
The  pen  he  used  was  so  long  that  its  extremity 
^•eached  as  far  as  Eome,  where  it  pierced  the  ears 


or  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  135 

of  a  lion"''  which  lay  there,  and  shook  the  triple 
crown  on  the  pope's  head. 

"All  the  cardinals  and  princes  ran  up  hastily, 
and  endeavored  to  support  it.  You  and  I  both 
tendered  our  assistance :  I  stretched  out  my  arm ; 
that  moment  I  awoke,  with  my  arm  extended,  in 
great  alarm,  and  very  angry  with  this  monk,  avIio 
could  not  guide  his  pen  better.  I  recovered  myself 
a  little ;  it  w^as  only  a  dream. 

"  I  was  still  half  asleep,  and  once  more  closed 
my  eyes.  The  dream  came  again.  The  lion,  still 
disturbed  by  the  pen,  began  to  roar  with  all  his 
might,  until  the  whole  city  of  Eome,  and  all  the 
states  of  the  holy  empire,  ran  up  to  know  what  was 
the  matter. 

"  The  pope  called  u23on  us  to  oppose  this  monk, 
and  addressed  himself  particularly  to  me,  because 
the  friar  was  living  in  my  dominions.  I  again 
awoke,  repeated  the  Lord's  prayer,  entreated  God 
to  preserve  his  holiness,  and  fell  asleep. 

"  I  then  dreamed  that  all  the  princes  of  the  em-  . 
pire,  and  we  along  with  them,  hastened  to  Home, 
and  endeavored  one  after  another  to  break  this  pen. 
It  cracked  as  if  it  had  been  made  of  iron ;  we  gave 
it  up  as  hopeless. 

"I  then  asked  the  monk — for  I  was  now  at  Rome, 
now  at  Wittemberg — where  he  had  got  that  pen, 
and  how  it  came  to  be  so  strong. 

"'This  pen,'  replied  he,  'belonged  to  a  Bohe- 
mian goose  a  hundred  years  old.t     I  had  it  from 

*  Leo  X.  t  Johu  Huss. 


136  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

one  of  my  old  scliooimasters.  It  is  so  strong 
because  no  one  can  take  the  pith  out  of  it,  and  I 
am  myseK  quite  astonished  at  it.' 

"  On  a  sudden  I  heard  a  loud  ciy ;  from  the 
monk's  long  pen  had  issued  a  host  of  other  pens. 
I  awoke  a  third  time ;  it  was  daylight." 

"What  is  your  opinion,  Mr.  Chancellor?"  now 
asked  Duke  John.  "Would  that  we  had  here  a 
Joseph,  or  a  Daniel,  taught  of  God." 

The  chancellor  thus  called  upon,  then  said, 
"  Your  highnesses  know  the  vulgar  proverb,  that  the 
dreams  of  young  women,  wise  men,  and  great  lords 
have  generally  some  hidden  meaning.  But  we  shall 
not  learn  the  significance  of  this  for  some  time, 
until  the  events  have  come  to  pass  to  which  it 
relates.  For  this  reason,  confide  its  accomplish- 
ment to  God,,and  commit  all  things  into  his  hands." 

"My  opinion  is  the  same  as  yours,  Mr.  Chan- 
cellor," said  the  duke ;  "  it  is  not  proper  for  us  to 
rack  our  brains  to  discover  the  interpretation  of 
this  dream ;  God  will  direct  every  thing  to  his  own 
glory." 

The  elector  then  closed  the  conversation  by 
saying,  "May  our  faithful  God  do  even  so.  Still  I 
shall  never  forget  this  dream.  I  have  thought  of 
one  interpretation,  but  I  shall  keep  it  to  myself 
Time  will  shoAv  perhaj)s,  whether  I  have  conjec- 
tured rightly."* 

«  The  foregoing  account  of  the  elector's  dream  has  been  taken 
from  D'Aubigne,  who  extracts  it  from  a  MS.  among  the  Weimar 
State  jsaijers,  taten  down  from  Siialatiu's  own  liijs. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  137 

Tims,  according  to  the  Weimar  manuscrijDt, 
passed  tlie  31st  of  October,  at  the  palace  of 
Schweinitz. 

At  noon  of  this  same  day,  Luther,  spurred  there- 
to by  Tetzel's  continuation  of  his  unblushing  career  ; 
by  the  oath  of  his  biblical  doctorate,  which  bound 
him  to  combat  with  his  whole  energy  such  shocking 
and  autichristiau  dogmas  ;  and  by  his  high  respect 
for  the  pope  and  the  Eoman  ritual,  which  he 
esteemed  discredited  by  these  monstrous  claims : 
selecting  the  day  which  preceded  the  festival  of  All 
Saints,  and  when  crowds  of  pilgrims  thronged  to 
Wittemberg  to  witness  the  magnificent  ceremonies 
of  that  occasion,  walked  to  the  door  of  the  castle 
church  and  boldly  nailed  upon  it  those  famous 
ninety-five  theses,  which  he  had  composed  in  the 
solitude  of  his  cloister ;  acquainting  no  one  with 
their  nature,  or  with  his  intentions  respecting  them  ; 
and  which,  unintentionally  enough  to  him,  did 
indeed,  as  in  the  elector's  prophetic  dream,  disturb 
the  Roman  lion,  strike  the  pontiif's  triple  crown, 
and  convulse  the  universe. 


138  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTEE   XII. 

Those  propositions  wliicli  Luther  affixed  to  the 
door  of  the  Wittemberg  church  at  mid-day,  ou  the 
31st  of  October,  1517,  opened  thus  : 

"  From  a  desire  to  ehcit  the  truth,  the  following 
theses  will  be  maintained  at  Wittemberg,  under  the 
presidency  of  the  reverend  father,  Martin  Luther, 
of  the  order  of  the  Augustines,  master  of  arts,  master 
and  lecturer  in  theology,  who  asks  that  such  as  are 
not  able  to  dispute  verbally  with  him,  will  do  so  in 
writing.  In  the  name  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
Amen." 

Then  follow  the  ninety-five  theses.  From  the 
series  we  quote  the  more  essential  ones  : 

1.  "  When  our  Lord  and  Master  Jesus  Christ 
says  rejjeiit,  he  means  that  the  whole  life  of  his 
behevers  upon  earth  shall  be  a  constant  and  per- 
jDctual  repentance. 

2.  "This  word  cannot  be  understood  of  the 
sacrament  of  penance,  (that  is,  of  confession  and 
satisfaction,)  as  it  is  administered  by  the  priest. 

3.  "  Yet  the  Lord  does  not  intend  to  speak  in 
this  only  of  internal  repentance ;  internal  repent- 
ance is  null,  if  it  does  not  produce  externally  aU 
kinds  of  mortification  of  the  flesh. 

4.  "  Repentance  and  sorrow,  that  is  to  say,  true 
penitence,  last  as  long  as  man  is  displeased  with 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  139 

himself,  tliat  is  to  say,  until  lie  passes  from  this  life 
into  the  life  eternal. 

5.  "  The  pope  is  miable  and  does  not  desire  to 
remit  any  other  penalty  than  that  which  he  has 
imposed  of  his  own  good  pleasure,  or  conformably 
to  the  canons  or  papal  ordinances. 

6.  "  The  pope  cannot  remit  any  condemnation  ; 
but  only  declare  and  confirm  the  remission  of  God, 
except  in  the  cases  that  appertain  to  himself.  If 
he  does  otherwise,  the  condemnation  remains  en- 
tirely the  same. 

8.  "  The  laws  of  ecclesiastical  penance  ought  to 
be  imposed  solely  on  fhe  living,  and  in  no  respect 
concern  the  dead. 

21.  "  The  commissaries  of  indulgences  are  in 
error  when  they  say,  that  by  the  papal  indulgence 
a  man  is  delivered  from  every  punishment  and  is 
saved. 

25.  "  The  same  power  that  the  pope  has  over 
purgatory  throughout  the  church,  each  bishop  pos- 
sesses individually  in  his  own  diocese,  and  each 
priest  in  his  own  parish, 

27.  "  They  preach  mere  human  follies  who  main- 
tain that,  as  soon  as  the  money  rattles  in  the  strong- 
box, the  soul  flies  out  of  purgator3\ 

28.  "  This  is  certain,  that  as  soon  as  the  money 
tinkles,  avarice  and  love  of  gain  arrive,  increase, 
and  multiply.  But  the  support  and  prayers  of  the 
church  depend  solel}^  on  God's  will  and  good  pleas- 
ure. 

32.  "  Those  who  fancy  themselves  sure  of  salva- 


140  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

tion  bj  indulgences,  will  go  to  perdition  along  with 
those  who  teach  them  so. 

35.  "  Thej  are  teachers  of  antichristian  doc- 
trines who  pretend  that  to  deliver  a  soul  from 
purgatory,  or  to  buy  an  indulgence,  there  is  no 
need  of  either  sorrow  or  repentance. 

36.  "Every  Christian  who  truly  repents  of  his 
sins,  enjoys  an  entire  remission  both  of  the  x^en- 
alties  and  of  the  guilt,  without  any  need  of  indul- 
gences. 

37.  "Every  Christian,  whether  dead  or  alive, 
participates  in  all  the  blessings  of  Christ  and  of 
the  church  by  God's  gift,  and  without  a  letter  of 
indulgence. 

38.  "  Still  we  should  not  contemn  the  papal  in- 
dulgence and  pardon ;  for  this  pardon  is  a  declara- 
tion of  the  pardon  of  God. 

40.  "True  repentance  and  sorrow  seek  and  love 
the  punishment ;  but  the  mildness  of  indulgence 
absolves  from  the  punishment,  and  begets  hatred 
against  it. 

42.  "  We  should  teach  Christians  that  the  pope 
has  no  thought  or  desire  of  comparing  in  any  re- 
spect the  act  of  buying  indulgences  with  any  work 
of  mercy. 

43.  "  We  should  teach  Christians  that  he  who 
gives  to  the  poor,  or  lends  to  the  needy,  does  better 
than  he  who  purchases  an  indulgence. 

44.  "  For  the  work  of  charity  increaseth  charity, 
and  renders  a  man  more  pious ;  whereas  the  indul- 
gence does  not  make  him  better,  but  only  renders 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  141 

liim   more    self-conficle'ut,   and    more   secure    from 
punishment. 

46.  "We  should  teach  Christians  that  if  they 
have  no  superfluity,  they  are  bound  to  keep  for 
their  own  h6useholds  the  means  of  procuring  neces- 
saries, and  that  they  ought  not  to  squander  their 
money  in  indulgences. 

47.  "  We  should  teach  Christians  that  the  pur- 
chase of  an  indulgence  is  a  matter  of  free  choice, 
and  not  of  commandment. 

48.  "  We  should  teach  Christians  that  the  pope, 
having  more  need  of  prayers  offered  up  in  faith 
than  of  money,  desires  prayers  more  than  money 
when  he  dispenses  indulgences. 

49.  "  We  should  teach  Christians  that  the  pope's 
indulgence  is  good,  if  we  put  no  confidence  in  it ; 
but  that  nothing  is  more  hurtful,  if  it  diminishes 
our  piety. 

50.  "  We  should  teach  Christians  that  if  the 
pope  knew  of  the  extortions  of  the  preachers  of  in- 
dulgences, he  would  rather  the  mother  church  of 
St.  Peter  were  burnt  and  reduced  to  ashes,  than  see 
it  built  up  with  the  skin,  the  flesh,  and  the  bones 
of  his  flock. 

51 .  "  We  should  teach  Christians  that  the  pope, 
as  it  is  his  diity,  would  distribute  his  own  money  to 
the  poor  whom  the  indulgence  sellers  are  now 
stripping  of  their  last  farthing,  even  were  he  com- 
pelled to  sell  the  mother  church  of  St.  Peter. 

52.  "  To  hope  to  be  saved  by  indulgences,  is  a 
lying  and  empty  hope  ;  although  even  the  commis- 


142  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

sary  of  indulgences,  nay,  further,  tlie  pope  himself, 
should  pledge  their  souls  to  guarantee  it. 

53.  "  They  are  the  enemies  of  the  pope  and  of 
Jesus  Christ  who,  by  reason  of  the  preaching  of 
indulgences,  forbid  the  j)reaching  of  the  word  of 
God. 

55.  "  The  pope  can  have  no  other  thought  than 
this  :  if  the  indulgence,  which  is  a  lesser  matter,  be 
celebrated  with  ringing  of  bells,  with  pomp  and  cere- 
mony, much  more  should  we  honor  and  celebrate 
the  gospel,  which  is  a  greater  thing,  with  a  hundred 
bells,  and  with  a  hundred  pomps  and  ceremonies. 

62.  "  The  true  and  precious  treasure  of  the 
church  is  the  holy  gospel  of  the  glory  and  grace  of 
God. 

65.  "  The  treasures  of  the  gospel  are  nets  in 
which,  in  former  times,  the  rich  and  those  in  easy 
circumstances  were  caiight. 

66.  "  But  the  treasures  of  indulgences  are  nets 
with  which  they  now  catch  the  riches  of  the 
people. 

67.  "  It  is  the  duty  of  bishops  and  pastors  to 
receive  the  commissaries  of  indulgences  with  every 
mark  of  respect. 

68.  "  But  it  is  still  more  their  duty  to  ascertain 
with  their  eyes  and  ears  that  the  said  commissaries 
do  not  preach  the  dreams  of  their  own  imagination, 
instead  of  the  orders  of  the  pope. 

71.  "  Cursed  be  he  who  speaks  against  the  in- 
dulgences of  the  pope. 

72.  "  But  blessed  be  he  who  speaks  against  the 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  143 

foolish  and  impudent  language  of  tlie  preachers  of 
indulgences. 

77.  "  The  indulgence  of  the  pope  cannot  take 
away  the  smallest  daily  sin,  as  far  as  regards  the 
guilt  of  the  offence. 

79.  "  It  is  blasphemy  to  say  that  the  cross 
adorned  with  the  arms  of  the  pope  is  as  effectual 
as  the  cross  of  Christ. 

80.  "  The  bishops,  pastors,  and  theologians  who 
permit  such  things  to  be  told  the  people,  will  have 
to  render  an  account  of  them. 

81.  "  This  shameless  preaching,  these  impudent 
commendations  of  indulgences,  make  it  difficult  for 
the  learned  to  defend  the  dignity  and  honor  of  tlie 
pope  against  the  calumnies  of  the  preachers,  and 
the  subtle  and  crafty  questions  of  the  common 
people. 

82.  "As,  for  instance,  why  does  not  the  pope, 
for  the  sake  of  most  holy  love,  and  because  of  the 
extreme  need  of  the  souls,  which  forms  the  most 
urgent  reason,  at  once  deliver  all  souls  from  purga- 
tory;  while  yet,  for  the  sake  of  pitiable  money,  in 
order  to  erect  St.  Peter's  church,  which  forms  a 
most  insignificant  reason,  he  delivers  innumerable 
souls  ? 

83.  "  Again,  what  does  the  pope  forgive,  or  what 
does  he  distribute  to  those  who,  through  true  re- 
pentance, are  already  entitled  to  forgiveness  and 
indulgences  ? 

86.  "  AVliy,  say  they,  does  not  the  pope,  who  is 
richer  than  the  richest  Croesus,  build  the  mother 


114  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

church  of  St.  Peter  with  his  own  money,  rather  than 
with  that  of  poor  Christians  ? 

92.  "  Would  that  we  were  quit  of  those  jDreach- 
ers  who  cry  to  the  church,  Peace,  peace,  and  there 
is  no  peace. 

94.  "  We  should  exhort  Christians  to  diligence 
in  following  Christ  their  head,  through  crosses, 
death,  and  hell. 

95.  "  For  it  is  far  better  to  enter  into  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  through  much  tribulation,  than  to 
acquire  a  carnal  security  by  the  consolations  of  a 
false  peace." 

Such  were  the  theses,  negative  and  polemical, 
which  have  been  well  said  to  have  contained  the 
germs  of  the  Reformation.  They  show  how  closely 
Luther  was  still  tied  in  the  swaddling  bands  of 
Rome.  For  if  there  is  any  one  thing  more  prom- 
inent than  another  in  them,  it  is  the  ever  present 
tacit  assumption  that  the  pope  must  side  with  him, 
and  discountenance  those  blasphemous  doctrines  to 
which  Leo  had  already  committed  himself. 

Had  Luther  at  this  time  been  informed  of  the 
length  to  which  his  theses  would  ultimately  lead 
him,  he  would  probably  have  been  filled  with  horror. 
He  had  neither  the  wish  nor  the  thought  of  intro- 
ducing innovations,  or  of  breaking  with  Eome.  On 
the  contrary,  he  imagined  himself  to  be  a  much 
better  Romanist  than  the  scandalous  priests  whose 
iniquities  he  had  undertaken  to  uncloak. 

He  was  led  gradual^  and  reluctantl}^  to  assume 
his  later  position  of  hostility  to  the  holy  see.     God 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  145 

meant  liim  to  groj^e  liis  way  through  much  vexation 
and  travail  of  soul,  out  of  the  papal  darkness  up  to 
the  table-land  of  his  final  protestation. 

The  great  heresy  which  the  theses  contained  was 
their  denial  to  the  pope  of  all  power  to  remit  sins, 
and  his  declaration  that  the  laws  of  ecclesiastical 
penance  in  no  respect  concerned  the  dead. 

It  is  singular  how  so  good  a  churchman  as  Lu- 
ther then  was,  came  to  entertain  these  clear  and 
concise  views,  especially  as  no  doctrine  of  the  Roman 
church  is  more  definitely  settled  than  this  very  one 
of  indulgences.* 

Strangely  enough,  Luther  does  not  appear  to 
have  then  been  at  all  conscious  of  his  heresy  in  this 
matter ;  and  indeed  it  is  curious  to  notice  how 
anxious  the  "Wittemberg  monk  was,  all  through  the 
earlier  phases  of  the  fierce  controversy  which  fol- 
lowed the  publication  of  his  theses,  to  persuade 
himself  and  others  that  he  advocated  no  new  or 
hostile  measures  to  the  Eoman  polity  ;  how  much 
he  dreaded  even  the  whispered  reproach  of  heresy ; 
inflexibly  earnest  only  in  denouncing,  not  indul- 
gences |jer  se,  but  only  their  abuse. 

But  God  ere  long  extracted  the  sting  from  this 
fear,  and  arming  Luther  in  the  panoply  of  his  rich 
grace,  and  grounding  him  upon  the  rock  of  truth, 
made  his  chosen  warrior  to  deserve  his  title  of 
"  Champion  of  the  Bible." 

°  See  Bossuet's  remarks  quoted  in  Chap.  X,  at  page  121. 


KG  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTEE   XIII. 

On  the  evening  of  tliis  same  eventful  31st  of 
October,  Lutlier,  returning  from  the  thronged  and 
excited  market-place,  where  the  eager  burghers  of 
the  good  old  town  of  Wittemberg  were  still  busy  in 
discussing,  and  mostly  in  approving  the  theses  of 
their  idoHzed  monk,  and  where  the  jubilant  students 
of  the  university  were  congregated  in  numbers, 
entered  his  cell,  bowed  his  head  in  prayer,  after 
which  he  remained  wrapped  in  pensive  thought  for 
some  time;  then  taking  up  his  pen,  he  wrote  this 
letter  to  Albert,  Archbishop  of  Mentz  and  Magde- 
burg, having  in  some  manner  learned  that  this 
prince,  in  whom  the  Wittemberg  professor  saw  only 
a  superior  worthy  of  respect  and  obedience,^'  had 
both  sanctioned  and  j^rescribed  the  quackery  of  in- 
dulgences. 

"  To  the  most  reverend  father  in  Christ,  my  most 
illustrious  lord  Prince  Albert,  Archbishop  of  Magde- 
burg and  Mayence,  Marquis  of  Brandenburg,  etc., 
etc.: 

"  Luther  to  his  lord  and  pastor  in  Christ,  in  all 
submission  and  reverence. 

"JESUS. 

"  The  grace  and  mercy  of  God,  and  whatever  can 
be  and  is. 

*  Domino  suo  et  pastori  in  Christo  venerabiliter   metuendo. 
Address  on  the  letter.     Epp.  I.  68. 


OF  MARTIN   LUTHER.  147 

"  Pardon  me,  most  reverend  father  in  Christ, 
illustrious  prince,  that  I  have  the  temerity,  I  who 
am  the  least  of  mankind,  to  raise  my  eyes  to  your 
sublimity,  and  address  a  letter  to  you. 

"  Jesus,  my  Lord  and  Saviour,  is  witness  for  me, 
that,  long  restrained  by  the  consciousness  of  my 
own  turpitude  and  weakness,  I  have  long  delayed 
commencing  the  work  which  I  now  undertake  with 
open  and  upraised  brow,  impelled  by  the  fidelity  I 
owe  to  Jesus  Christ ;  deign  then,  your  grace,  to  cast 
a  look  upon  the  grain  of  sand  who  now  approaches 
you,  and  to  receive  my  prayer  with  paternal  clem- 
ency. 

"  Persons  are  now  hawking  about  papal  indul- 
gences, under  the  name  and  august  title  of  your 
lordship,  for  the  construction  of  St.  Peter's  at 
Rome. 

"I  say  nothing  about  the  vaporings  of  the  preach- 
ers, which  I  have  not  myself  heard  ;  but  I  complain 
bitterly  of  the  fatal  errors  in  which  they  are  involv- 
ing the  common  people,  men  of  weak  understanding, 
whom,  foolish  as  they  are,  these  men  persuade  that 
they  will  be  sure  of  salvation  if  they  only  buy  their 
letters  of  plenary  indulgence. 

"  They  believe  that  souls  will  fly  out  of  purga- 
tory the  moment  the  money  paid  for  their  redemp- 
tion is  thrown  into  the  preacher's  bag,  and  that  such 
virtue  belongs  to  these  indulgences,  that  there  is  no 
sin,  however  great,  even  the  violation,  which  is  im- 
possible, of  the  mother  of  God,  which  the  indul- 
gences will  not  absolutely  and  at  once  efface. 


MS  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

"  Great  God !  And  is  it  thus  that  men  dare  to 
teach  unto  death  those  who  are  intrusted  to  your 
care,  Oh  reverend  father,  and  make  more  difficult 
the  account  which  will  be  demanded  of  you  in  the 
great  day ! 

"  Wlien  I  saw  these  things  I  could  remain  silent 
no  longer.  No,  there  is  no  episcopal  power  which 
can  insure  to  man  his  salvation  ;  even  the  infinite 
grace  of  our  Lord  cannot  render  him  wholly 
secure :  the  apostle  commands  us  to  work  out  our 
salvation  in  fear  and  trembling.  The  rigJdeous 
scarcely  shall  he  saved,  so  narrow  is  the  way  which 
leads  to  hfe.  Those  who  are  saved  are  called  in 
the  Scripture,  brands  saved  from  the  burning ; 
everywhere  the  Lord  reminds  us  of  the  difficulty  of 
salvation. 

"  How  then  dare  these  men  seek  to  render  poor 
souls  fatally  confident  of  salvation,  on  the  mere 
strength  of  purchased  indulgences  and  futile  prom- 
ises? The  chiefest  work  of  bishops  should  be  to 
take  care  that  the  people  learn  truly  the  gospel,  and 
be  full  of  Christian  charity. 

"  Never  did  Christ  preach  indulgences,  nor  com- 
mand them  to  be  preached :  what  he  preached  and 
commanded  to  be  preached  was  the  gospel. 

"  I  would  implore  you  to  silence  these  ill  preach- 
ers ere  some  one  shall  arise  and,  utterly  confuting 
them  and  their  preachings,  cast  discredit  upon  your 
sublimity,  a  thing  to  be  avoided,  but  which  I  fear 
must  needs  occui',  unless  you  take  measui-es  for 
silencing  these  men. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  149 

"I  entreat  your  grace  to  read  and  consider  tlie 
propositions,  wlierein  I  have  demonstrated  tlie 
vanity  of  these  indulgences,  which  the  preachers 
thereof  call  all-powerful." 

To  this  letter,  so  respectful  and  gentle  in  its 
tone,  yet  so  firm  and  decided  withal,  and  to  which 
Luther  appended  his  theses,  the  haughty  prelate  to 
whom  it  was  addressed  did  not  deign  to  reply. 

Having  about  the  same  time  addressed  a  mis- 
sive of  somewhat  similar  scope  and  purpose  to 
Jerome,  Bishop  of  Brandenburg,  who  had  conse- 
crated him  a  priest  at  Erfurth,  in  1507,  this  pre- 
late sent  him  in  reply,  by  a  Carthusian  monk,  an 
epistle  in  which  he  pointed  out  to  the  Wittemburg 
doctor  that,  in  what  he  was  doing,  he  was  assailing 
one  of  the  most  time-honored  and  definitively  settled 
tenets  of  the  Boman  see,  and  indeed  attacking  the 
church  itself.  Jerome  therefore  adjured  him  to 
remain  silent,  for  the  sake  of  peace.* 

Luther  did  not  receive  much  sympathy  or  sup- 
port at  this  time  from  any  quarter.  Even  Staupitz 
stood  by  in  doubting  fear. 

"When  I  undertook  to  write  against  the  gross 
error  of  indulgences,"  says  Luther,  writing  at  a 
later  period,  "Dr.  Staupitz  said,  'What,  would  you 
write  against  the  pope?  What  are  you  about? 
They  will  not  permit  you  to  do  this,'  '  But  suppose 
they  must  permit  it  ?'  replied  I."t 

Still,  Luther  has  assured  us  that  he  "entered 
into  the  controversy  without  any  definite  plan,  with- 

•  Audin,  Miclielet.  f  Tischreden,  p.  384. 


150  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

out  knowledge  or  inclind;tion ;"  and  lie  adds,  "I  was 
taken  quite  unawares,  and  I  call  God,  the  searcher 
of  hearts,  to  witness."* 

Meantime  the  publication  of  these  theses,  and 
the  sermon  in  German  which  Luther  delivered  in 
su23j)ort  of  them,t  struck  upon  the  whole  of  Ger- 
many like  a  huge  thunderbolt.  This  submission  of 
man  to  God,  of  the  finite  to  the  infinite,  was  at  once 
recognized  by  the  German  people  as  the  true  na- 
tional religion,  as  the  faith  which  Gottschalk  pro- 
claimed in  the  time  of  Charlemagne,  from  the  very 
cradle  of  German  Christianity. | 

The  peoj)le  accordingly  threw  themselves  with 
the  most  hungry  avidity  upon  this  religious  pasture, 
from  which  they  had-  been  shut  out  ever  since  the 
fourteenth  century.  The  propositions  were  printed 
in  thousands,  devoured,  spread  abroad,  diffused  in 
every  direction.  Before  two  weeks  had  elapsed  his 
words  had  penetrated  to  the  remotest  corners  of 
Germany,  and  in  four  weeks  throughout  Christen- 
dom ;§  this  too  in  the  infancy  of  printing,  when 
Faust  had  but  recently  modelled  his  rough  type, 
and  long  before  the  press  flashed  news  across  the 
globe  upon  its  myriad  and  hghtning  wings. 

«  Casu  euim,  non  Tohintate  nee  shidio,  in  has  turbas  incidi, 
Deum  ipsum  tester.     L.  0pp.  Lat.  iu  Prref. 

f  One  of  the  fathers  came  np  to  Luther  after  this  sermon,  and 
piiUing  him  by  the  sleeve,  and  shaking  his  head,  said,  "Doctor, 
3^ou-  are  going  too  far,  you  -wdll  do  us  much  harm.  The  Domini- 
cans are  laughing  in  their  sleeves  at  us."  "Father,"  replied 
Luther,  "  if  it  comes  not  from  God  it  will  fall ;  if  it  proceeds  from 
his  H0I3'  Spirit,  it  will  trium^jh. "     Audin. 

t  Michelet.        §  Meurer's  Life  of  Luther.     Michelet,  p.  31. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  151 

From  tliis  wide-spread  publicity,  the  modest  and 
doubtful  young  doctor  shrank.  He  had  designed 
for  his  theses  no  such  extensive  circulation,  writing 
them  merely  for  local  effect,  and  as  a  basis  for  aca- 
demic disputation. 

Luther's  alarm  at  his  success  is  exhibited  by 
himself:  "I  am  sorry,"  he  said,  "to  see  them  so  ex- 
tensively printed  and  distributed :  this  is  not  a  good 
way  wherein  to  set  about  the  instruction  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  I  myself  feel  some  doubts  upon  certain  points. 
There  are  things  which  I  should  more  closely  have 
investigated  and  ascertained,  others  which  I  should 
have  altogether  omitted,  had  I  foreseen  this  result." 

But  even  had  he  desired  to  do  so,  Luther  could 
not  have  laid  the  perturbed  spirit  of  reform  which 
he  had  invoked.  His  theses,  epigTammatic  and 
terse  in  their  form,  had  created  so  great  a  sensation 
because  men's  minds  were  already  alive  to  the  ab- 
surdities and  blasphemies  of  the  indulgence-mon- 
gers, and  these  propositions  of  the  Wittemberg 
doctor  gave  adequate  expression  to  a  universal  feel- 
ing, echoed  the  popular  thought. 

He  could  therefore  no  more  have  stilled  the 
tumult  he  had  conjured  up,  than  he  could  have 
silenced  the  ceaseless  throbbings  of  the  ocean. 
The  fires  of  debate  once  lighted,  God  meant  should 
blaze  on  and  on  until  all  Europe  was  aglow,  from 
the  shores  of  the  Mediterranean  to  the  Baltic  sea. 

Luther's  timidity  and  qualms  of  conscience  soon 
vanished  before  the  Ijing  and  virulent  assaults  of 
the  indulgence  preachers  and  then-  backers.    Despite 


152  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

the  lukewarmness  of  his  friends,  who  left  him  to 
contend  alone  in  the  arena,  the  brave  monk,  girding 
up  his  loins,  and  buckling  on  his  spiritual  armor, 
determined,  like  David,  to  go  forth  single-handed 
to  the  combat  with  the  GoUath  of  the  indulgences. 

"Some  copies  of  my  propositions,"  he  says, 
"  having  found  their  way  to  Frankfort-on-the-Oder, 
where  Tetzel  was  then  acting  as  inquisitor,  and 
selling  indulgences  under  the  archbishop-elector  of 
Mayence,  he,  foaming  with  rage  and  alarm  at  the 
theses  I  had  set  forth,  published  a  set  of  counter- 
resolutions  in  reply,  to  the  number  of  one  hundred 
n,nd  six,  in  which  he  maintained  the  most  insolent 
and  blasphemous  doctrines  respecting  the  pretended 
power  and  infallibility  of  the  pope  ;  and  in  a  second 
series  of  resolutions,  he  assumes  the  office  of  gen- 
eral interpreter  of  the  Scriptures,  and  railed  against 
heretics  and  heresiarchs,  by  which  names  he  desig- 
nated myself  and  my  friends  ;  and  he  concluded  his 
insolence  by  burning  my  theses  publicly  in  the  city 
of  Frankfort. 

"When  the  news  of  the  madman's  proceedings 
reached  Wittemberg,  a  number  of  persons  collected 
together,  and  having  procured  Tetzel's  productions, 
retaliated  upon  him  by  burning  them  in  the  public 
square,  amid  the  cheers  and  derision  of  a  large  pro- 
portion of  the  inhabitants. 

"  I  was  not  sorry  that  such  a  mass  of  absurdity 
and  extravagance  should  meet  with  the  fate  it  really 
merited  ;  but  at  the  same  time  I  regretted  the  man- 
ner in  which  it  was  done,  and  solemnly  affirm  that 


or  MARTIN  LUTHER.  153 

I  knew  nothing  of  it  at  the  time,  and  that  it  was 
done  without  the  knowledge  either  of  the  elector  or 
of  the  magistrates, 

"I  soon  found  that  Tetzel  was  not  the  only 
opponent  resolved  to  take  the  field  against  me, 
although  I  had  maintained  nothing  in  my  proposi- 
tions inconsistent  with  the  avowed  doctrines  of  these 
hirelings  ;  and  had .  indeed  advanced  my  proposi- 
tions more  by  way  of  doubt  than  in  a  positive 
manner. 

"John  Eck*  made  his  appearance  in  a  violent 
attack  upon  me ;  but  as  his  observations  were  more 
in  the  nature  of  mere  abuse  than  of  conclusive  ar- 
gument, that  person  did  a  vast  deal  of  harm  to  his 
own  party,  while  he  rendered  me  unintentional 
service. 

"Another  antagonist  also  entered  the  lists 
against  me,  in  the  person  of  Silvestro  Prierio,t  a 
Dominican,  who,  with  the  pedantry  peculiar  to  his 
office  of  censor  in  the  metropolis  of  poper}^,  chose  to 
answer  all  my  propositions  in  a  way  most  conven- 
ient to  himself,  l)y  declaring,  in  a  manner  altogether 
begging  the  question,  that  they  were  all  heretical. 
In  my  reply,  I  exposed  the  absurdity  of  this 
method  of  proceeding,  which  however  is  the  usual 
style  of  argument  adopted  by  the  Romish  tyrants 
and  their  slaves. 

"Prierio  again  attacked  me;  but  when  I  found 

^  Vice-chancellor  of  the  Uuiversity  of  Ingolstadt. 
f  Master  of  the  Apostolical  Chamber  at  Eome,  and  licenser  of 
books. 

7* 


154  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

the  man  asserting  tliat  tlie  authority  of  the  pope 
was  superior  to  the  councils  and  canons  of  the 
church,  and  that  even  the  sacred  Scriptures  depend- 
ed for  their  interpretation  on  the  mere  dictum  of 
that  representative  of  antichrist,  I  thought  it  un- 
necessary to  reply  further  than  by  simply  declaring 
my  conviction  that  the  said  Prierio's  book,  being  a 
compound  of  blasphemies  and  lies,  must  certainly 
have  been  the  work  of  the  devil;  and  that  if  the 
pope  and  cardinals  sanctioned  such  writings,  which 
I  did  not  believe,  although  I  now  know  it  well, 
Kome  must  be  the  seat  of  antichrist,  the  centre  of 
abomination,  and  the  synagogue  of  Satan. 

"Who  is  antichrist,  if  the  pope  is  not  anti- 
christ? Oh,  Satan,  Satan,  how  long  wilt  thou  be 
suffered  to  abuse  the  patience  of  God  by  thy  great 
wickedness?'  Unhappy,  abandoned,  blasphemous 
Home,  the  wrath  of  God  is  upon  thee;  and  thou 
richly  deservest  it,  for  thou  art  the  habitation  of  all 
that  is  impure  and  disgusting — a  very  pantheon  of 
impiety. 

"In  this  way  passed  the  year  1517,  I  maintain- 
ing the  truth,  and  these  apologists  for  impiety  rail- 
ing against  me  with  their  false  accusations;  for 
hitherto  pope  Leo  had  taken  no  notice  of  the  mat- 
ter, not  wishing,  as  I  afterwards  understood,  to  in- 
terfere at  all,  thinking  that  the  zeal  of  both  parties 
would  soon  subside. 

"Meantime  I  began  to  consider  what  measures 
to  adopt,  for  I  knew  that  no  reasonings  of  mine 
would  have  ^ny  weight  with  such  obstinate  and  in- 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  155 

Solent  disputants  as  Tetzel,  Eck,  and  Prierio,  big- 
oted slaves  of  that  system  of  iniquity  and  licentious- 
ness which  I  myself  had  witnessed  when  at  Kome."* 

The  controversy  thus  succinctly  sketched  by 
Luther,  grew  daily  in  its  proportions  and  in  its 
radical  differences  of  opinion. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  the  second  series  of 
theses  put  forth  by  Tetzel,  and  mentioned  by  Luther 
in  the  quotation  just  given,  form  an  important 
epoch  in  the  Reformation,  They  changed  the 
ground  of  dispute ;  they  transported  it  from  the  in- 
dulgence-markets to  the  halls  of  the  Vatican,  and 
diverted  it  from  Tetzel  to  the  pope.  In  the  place 
of  that  despicable  broker  whom  Luther  had  so  firmly 
grasped,  they  substituted  the  sacred  person  of  the 
head  of  the  church. 

Luther  was  filled  with  astonishment.  It  is  prob- 
able that  he  would  ere  long  have  taken  that  step 
himself,  but  his  enemies  spared  him  the  trouble. 
It  was  henceforth  no  question  of  a  discredited  traf- 
fic, but  of  Home  itself;  and  the  blow  by  which  a 
daring  hand  had  tried  to  demolish  Tetzel's  shop, 
shook  the  very  foundations  of  the  pontifical  throne.f 

Meantime  edition  after  edition  of  the  theses  of 
the  "Wittemberg  heretic  "if  was  exhausted.  "Men 
conversed  about  them  in  all  the  convents,  and  in  all 
the  universities. 

"The  pious  monks  who  had  entered  the  cloisters 
to  save  their  souls,  aU  upright  and  honorable  men, 
were  delighted  at  this  simple  and  striking  confes- 
«  L.  0pp.        t  D'Aubigue,  Vol.  I.,  p.  302.        f  Cochl^us. 


156  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

sion  of  the  truth,  and  heartily  desired  that  Luther 
would  continue  the  work  he  had  begun. 

"At  length  one  man  had  found  courage  to  un- 
dertake the  perilous  struggle.  This  was  a  repara- 
tion accorded  to  Christendom ;  the  public  conscience 
was  satisfied.  Piety  saw  in  these  theses  a  blow 
aimed  at  every  superstition ;  the  new  theology 
hailed  in  them  the  defeat  of  the  scholastic  dogmas ; 
princes  and  magistrates  considered  them  as  a  bar- 
rier raised  against  the  invasions  of  the  ecclesiastical 
power;  and  the  nation  rejoiced  at  seeing  so  positive 
a  veto  opposed  by  this  monk  to  the  cupidity  of  the 
Eoman  chancery."* 

c  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  I.,  p.  279. 


OF  MAKTIN  LUTHEE.  157 


CHAPTEE  XIV. 

It  now  becomes  of  interest  to  scrutinize  some- 
what in  detail  the  features  of  this  fierce  indulgence 
controversy,  whose  outlines  have  been  already 
sketched,  and  which  God  meant  should  precede  and 
usher  in  the  Saxon  monk's  resistless  onset  upon  the 
Boman  citadel. 

But  before  going  into  the  babel  of  this  dispute, 
let  us  pause  to  note  the  effect  which  the  theses  had 
upon  two  of  the  most  famous  thinkers  of  that  epoch, 
both  of  whom  had  been  active,  not  precisely  in  as- 
saulting the  Koman  polity,  but  in  lopping  off  some 
of  its  excrescences,  and  in  lampooning  its  vices. 

The  first  of  these  illustrious  men,  John  Keuchlin, 
had  risen  by  his  diligence  and  genius  from  indi- 
gence and  obscurity,  to  the  very  foremost  rank 
among  the  scholars  of  his  country. 

Keuchlin's  childish  voice  having  attracted  the 
attention  of  the  margrave  of  Baden,  in  the  choir  of 
the  church  at  Pforzheim,  he  was  won  to  show  the 
boy  especial  favor,  and  in  1473  selected  him  to  bear 
his  son  company  to  the  university  of  Paris. 

Here  the  young  German  supported  himself  by 
transcribing  for  the  wealthier  students  the  rhapso- 
dies of  Homer  and  the  orations  of  Isocrates. 

It  was  at  Paris  that  Reuchlin  was  initiated  into 
a  knowledge  of  the  Greek — the  celebrated  Spartan 


158  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Hermouymos,  and  John  Wessel,  being  at  tliat  time 
the  great  lights  of  the  university. 

Beuchlin's  mind  was  early  familiarized  with  the 
arguments  of  the  Greek  dissent  fi'om  the  Eoman 
tenets,  and  he  had  frequently  listened  to  arguments 
from  Wessel  intended  to  prove  that  "  the  power  of 
plenary  absolution  belongs  to  God  alone  ;  that  it  is 
not  necessary  to  confess  our  sins  to  a  priest ;  and 
that  there  is  no  purgatory,  unless  it  be  God  himself, 
who  is  a  devouring  fire,  and  who  cleanseth  from  all 
impurity."  Wessel  was  also  accustomed  to  affirm 
that  "  the  doctrine  of  the  infallibihty  of  the  pope 
was  absurd,  and  that  all  human  satisfactions  were 
blasphemy  against  Christ,  who  has  reconciled  and 
completely  justified  mankind." 

Although  Keuchhn  appears  not  to  have  adopted 
these  branded  heresies  of  the  Paris  professor,  the  ha- 
bitual repetition  of  them  in  his  heai'ing,  the  earnest- 
ness with  which  Wessel  held  them,  and  his  great 
learning,  broadened  the  intellect  of  the  German 
scholar,  persuaded  him  that  men  might  differ  vitally 
from  the  Homan  creed,  and  still  be  worthy  of  respect, 
and  taught  him  that  wisdom  was  not  locked  up  in 
the  Vatican,  nor  the  exclusive  property  of  the  popes. 

At  the  age  of  twenty  Keuchlin  taught  philoso- 
phy, Greek,  and  Latin  at  Basle.  We  have  seen 
how  severely  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  tongues  were 
condemned  by  the  Papal  theologians;  and  when 
Peuchlin's  Greek  lectures  were  noised  abroad,  and 
the  schoolmen  began  to  sputter  and  complain,  Reuch- 
lin  Avrote,  "  The  Romans  make  wry  faces  and  cry 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  159 

out,  pretending  that  all  these  literary  pursuits  are 
contrary  to  the  Bomau  piety,  because  the  Greeks 
are  schismatics.  Oh  what  toil  and  suffering  must 
be  imdergone  to  restore  wisdom  and  learning  to 
Germany." 

After  a  life  of  vicissitudes  ;  after  filling  a  profes- 
sorship at  Tubingen ;  after  a  journey  into  Italy  in 
14:83 — when  he  surprised  the  pontiff,  by  the  pronun- 
ciation before  the  Roman  court  of  a  Latin  oration, 
into  the  exclamation,  "  This  man  certainly  deserves 
to  rank  with  the  best  orators  of  France  and  Italy  " — 
after  a  second  visit  to  Home  in  1498,  on  an  impor- 
tant mission,  where  he  employed  liis  time  and  money 
in  acquiring  the  Hebrew  tongue  under  the  learned 
Israehte  Abdias  Sphoma,  Rcuchliu  finally  returned 
to  Germany,  and  taking  up  his  residence  at  Wur- 
temberg,  accomplished  those  labors  which  were  so 
useful  to  Luther  and  to  the  Reformation.* 

It  was  about  this  time  that  he  was  drawn  into 
his  famous  controversy  with  the  monks. 

It  seems  that  a  baptized  Jew  named  Pfifferkorn, 
who  dwelt  at  Cologne,  and  lived  upon  intimate  terms 
with  the  inquisitor  Hochstraaten,  had,  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Dominicans  ever  ready  to  swoop  and 
batten  upon  any  prey,  solicited  and  obtained  from 
the  emperor  Maximilian  a  decree  authorizing  the 
seizure  and  public  burning  of  all  the  Hebrew  books, 
the  Bible  excepted,  upon  which  they  coukl  lay  their 
hands,  on  the  ground  that  these  works  teemed  with 
abuse  of  the  Saviour. 

*  D'AuV)iij;ne. 


160  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

Afterwards  the  emperor  was  won  to  reconsider 
his  decree,  and  he  called  upon  Eeuchlin  for  his 
opinion  concerning  the  character  of  the  Hebrew 
boohs. 

The  eminent  scholar,  grieved  to  see  such  a  holo- 
caust of  valuable  and  rare  books,  went  carefully 
over  the  list,  and  selecting  those  which  seemed  pe- 
culiarly full  of  blasphemies,  told  Maximilian  that  he 
thought  those  might  safely  be  burned ;  but  as  for  the 
rest,  he  advised  that  they  be  returned  to  their  own- 
ers, and  excluded  from  the  sentence. 

This  advice  the  emperor  adopted;  whereuj)on 
"  the  inquisitor  and  his  proselyte,"  says  D'Aubigni^, 
"like  hungry  ravens  who  see  their  prey  escaping 
them,  raised  a  furious  clamor. 

"  They  picked  out  different  passages  from  Keuch- 
lin's  works,  and  perverted  their  meaning,  declaring 
the  author  a  heretic,  and  accusing  him  of  a  secret 
inclination  to  Judaism,  and  threatening  him  with 
the  dungeons  of  the  Inquisition. 

"Reuchlin  at  first  gave  w^ay  to  alarm;  but  as 
these  men  became  more  insolent,  and  prescribed 
disgraceful  conditions,  he  published,  in  1513,  a  'De- 
fence against  his  Cologne  slanderers,'  in  which  he 
described  the  whole  party  in  the  Hveliest  colors. 

"  The  Dominicans  swore  to  be  avenged,  and 
hoped  by  a  stroke  of  authority  to  uphold  their  tot- 
tering power.  Hochstraaten  had  a  tribunal  formed 
at  Mentz  against  Keuchhn,  and  the  writings  of  this 
learned  man  were  committed  to  the  fiames. 

"  Then  the  innovators,  the  masters  and  disciples 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  ICI 

of  the  new  school,  feehng  themselves  all  attacked  iu 
the  person  of  Eeuchlin,  rose  up  like  one  man.  The 
times  had  changed;  Germany  and  literature  were 
not  Spain  and  the  Inquisition. 

'•'  This  great  literary  movement  had  called  a 
public  opinion  into  existence.  Even  the  superior 
clergy  were  almost  entirely  gained  over  to  it.  Keuch- 
liu  appealed  to  Leo  X.  This  pope,  who  was  no 
friend  to  the  ignorant  and  fanatical  monks,  referred 
the  whole  matter  to  the  bishop  of  Spires,  who  de- 
clared Reuchliu  innocent,  and  condemned  the  monks 
to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  investigation. 

"  The  Dominicans,  those  stanch  supports  of  the 
Papacy,  had  recourse  in  their  exasperation  to  the 
infallible  decrees  of  Rome;  and  Leo  X.,  not  know- 
ing how  to  act  between  these  two  hostile  powers, 
issued  a  mandate  de  supersedendo.'"" 

Luther,  acknowledging  all  that  Eeuchlin  had 
done,  wrote  to  him  after  his  victory  over  the  Do- 
minicans :  "  The  Lord  has  been  at  work  in  you,  that 
the  light  of  holy  Scripture  might  begin  to  shine  in 
that  Germany  where,  for  so  many  ages,  alas,  it  was 
not  only  stifled,  but  entirely  extinct."! 

When  Reuchlin  first  read  Luther's  theses,  he 
was  resting  at  Wurtemberg,  weary  and  sad  from 
his  prolonged  conflict  with  the  unscrupulous  monks. 
But  now  new  life  flooded  iu  upon  his  heart,  and  he 
exclaimed,  "  Thanks  be  to  God,  at  length  they  have 
found  a  man  who  Avill  give  them  so  much  to  do  that 

*  D'Aubigne,  chap.  VII.     See  remarks  on  Eeuehlin. 
t  Mai  Vita  I.  Reiichliu.     Berlin,  1830. 


162  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

tliey  will  be  compelled  to  let  my  old  age  end  in 
peace."* 

Keuclilin  acquires  additional  importance  in  the 
eyes  of  tlioiigiitful  students,  when  it  is  remembered 
that  it  was  under  his  active  supervision  that  Melanc- 
thon,  the  St.  John  of  the  Reformation,  was  trained. 

The  other  of  these  men  was  Erasmus,  the  famous 
sage  of  Rotterdam. 

The  early  history  of  this  philosopher  was  singu- 
larly romantic. 

His  father,  a  celebrated  village  wit  named  Ge- 
rard, a  native  of  Gouda,  in  the  Netherlands,  hav- 
ing, on  account  of  the  irregularities  of  his  life,  been 
persuaded  by  his  relatives  to  enter  a  convent,  de- 
serted his  wife  before  the  birth  of  her  son,  and 
repairing  to  Rome,  buried  himself  in  the  gloom  of 
the  cloister. 

Of  the  birth  of  Erasmust  he  therefore  remained 
ignorant. 

Returning  afterwards  to  Holland,  he  was  sur- 
prised to  learn  that  his  wife  still  lived,  and  that  a 
son  had  been  born  to  him.  Repenting,  but  too  late 
as  he  imagined,  his  hasty  resolution  to  quit  the 
world,  he  still  determined  to  adhere  to  his  sacerdo- 
tal vows. 

Erasmus  was  tenderly  reared  by  his  parents,  who, 
though  forced  by  the  monastic  discipline  to  live 

*  Mai  Vita  Eeuclilin.     Berlin,  1830. 

t  His  name  was  properly  Gerard,  of  course.  This,  after  a  cus-" 
torn  then  in  vogue,  he  translated  into  Greek,  Erasmus,  for  the 
second  name,  and  into  Latin,  Desiderius,  for  the  fii'st  name. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  163 

apart,  centred  their  love  upon  tlieir  cliild  until  his 
thirteenth  year,  when,  worn  out  by  suffering,  his 
poor  mother's  spirit  winged  its  way  to  that  bourne 
where  the  wicked  cease  from  troubling,  and  the 
weary  are  at  rest. 

The  father,  beating  his  restless  heart  to  pieces 
against  the  Avail  of  his  sullen  cloister,  did  not  long 
survive  his  Margaret,  so  that  Erasmus  was  thus 
early  orphaned,  and  forced  to  relinquish  his  school, 
at  which  his  parents  had  kept  him  from  his  fourth 
year. 

Forced  to  win  his  own  way,  the  precocious  wit 
of  the  future  philosopher  did  not  desert  him.  His 
guardians  had  intended  to  rear  him  up  in  a  cloister, 
but  an  invincible  dislike  to  a  monastic  life,  caused 
doubtless  by  a  remembrance  of  the  misery  his  fa- 
ther's assumption  of  the  monkish  gown  had  created 
in  his  family,  made  it  impossible  to  persuade  him 
to  embrace  an  ecclesiastical  career. 

Although  he  studied  for  a  while  in  several  mon- 
asteries, he  at  length  worked  his  way  to  Paris,  and 
entering  the  university  there,  pursued  his  studies 
in  extreme  indigence,  but  with  the  most  indefatiga- 
ble industry  and  the  most  brilliant  success. 

Although  he  engaged  without  intermission  in 
the  pursuit  of  knowledge,  he  is  said  to  have  assist- 
ed reluctantly  in  the  scholastic  disputes,  and  to 
have  avoided  the  study  of  theology,  lest  he  should 
discover  any  errors,  and  be  in  consec[uence  de- 
nounced as  a  heretic* 

^  Seckendorf,  D'Aubigne,  Mathesius. 


164  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

In  due  time  Erasmus  was  graduated  witli  eclat; 
tlieu  comnieuciug  to  teach,  lie  speedily  collected 
about  liim  troops  of  pupils,  and  made,  by  the 
elegance  of  his  style,  and  his  remarkable  familiarity 
with  the  lore  of  the  ancients,  many  friends  among 
the  most  eminent  scholars  of  Christendom. 

Having  thus  laid  firm  and  b;.'oad  the  founda- 
tions of  his  fame,  he  continued  to  rear  the  magnifi- 
cent temple  of  his  hterary  reputation  from  year 
to  year,  "until,  at  the  commencement  of  the  Refor- 
mation, he  had  "  put  on  the  top-stone  with  shout- 
ings," and  was  everywhere  hailed  as  the  foremost 
scholar  and  writer  of  his  times. 

This  remarkable  man,  "knowing  the  public  taste, 
had  very  early  shaken  oft'  the  ties  of  the  schools 
and  of  the  cloister,  and  devoting  himself  to  litera- 
ture, displaj-ed  in  his  writings  those  shrewd  obser- 
vations, that  clear,  lively,  and  enHghtened  wit, 
which  at  once  amuse  and  instruct." 

It  was  not  long  ere  Erasmus  was  eagerly  courted 
by  the  different  princes  of  Euroj)e,  who  desired  to 
add  the  brilliant  light  of  his  genius  to  the  lustre  of 
their  courts. 

But  we  are  assured  that  he  was  inexhaustible 
in  finding  excuses  to  escape  from  their  invitations. 
He  preferred  gaining  his  living  with  his  printer 
Frobenius,  by  correcting  books,  and  by  the  receipts 
which  accrued  to  him  from  the  immense  sales  of 
his  own  works,  to  living  surrounded  by  luxury  and 
purchased  favors  in  the  splendid  courts  of  Charles 
v.,  Henry  YIII.  of  England,  or  Francis  I.,  or  to 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  165 

encircling  his  head  with  the  cardinal's  hat  that  was 
offered  him."- 

"  The  influence  of  Erasmus  upon  the  Reforma- 
tion," says  D'Aubigne,  "has  been  overrated  by  one 
party,  and  depreciated  by  another.  He  never  was, 
and  never  could  have  been  a  reformer,  but  he  pre- 
pared the  way  for  others. 

"  Not  only  did  he  diffuse  over  his  age  a  love  of 
learning,  and  a  spirit  of  inquiry  and  examination 
that  led  others  much  further  than  he  went  himself ; 
but  still  more,  under  the  protection  of  great  prelates 
and  powerful  princes,  he  was  able  to  unveil  and 
combat  the  vices  of  the  church  by  the  most  cutting- 
satires. 

"Erasmus,  in  fact,  attacked  the  monks  and  the 
prevailing  abuses  in  two  ways.  He  first  adopted  a 
popular  method.  This  fair  little  man,  whose  half- 
closed  blue  eyes  keenly  observed  all  that  was  pass- 
ing, on  whose  lips  was  ever  a  slight  sarcastic 
smile,  whose  manner  was  timid  and  embarrassed, 
and  whom  it  seemed  that  a  puff'  of  wind  would 
blow  down,  scattered  in  every  direction  his  elegant 
and  biting  sarcasms  against  the  theology  and  devo- 
tion of  his  age. 

"  His  natural  character  and  the  events  of  his 
life  had  rendered  this  disposition  habitual.  Even 
in  those  writings  where  we  should  have  least  expect- 
ed it,  his  sarcastic  humor  breaks  out,  and  he  trans- 
fixed, as  with  needle  points,  those  schoolmen  and 

*  "A   priiicipibus  facile  mihi  contingeret  foihmti,  nisi  mihi 
minime  clulcis  esset  iibertas."    Epistola  ad  Pirck. 


166  ■  THE   LIFE  AND  TIMES 

those  ignorant  monks  against  whom  he  had  de- 
clared war. 

"  Preceding  authors  had  abeady  popularized 
the  idea  of  that  element  of  foUj  which  has  crept 
into  all  the  opinions  and  actions  of  human  life. 

"  Erasmus  seized  upon  it,  and  introduces  Folly 
in  her  own  person,  Maria,  daughter  of  Plutus,  born 
in  the  Fortunate  Isles,  fed  on  drunkenness  and 
impertinence,  and  queen  of  a  powerful  empire ;  she 
gives  a  description  of  it,  depicting  successively  all 
the  states  in  the  world  that  belong  to  her ;  but  she 
dwells  particularly  on  the  churchmen  who  will  not 
acknowledge  her  benefits,  though  she  loads  them 
with  her  favors. 

"  She  overwhelms  with  her  gibes  and  sarcasms 
that  labyrinth  of  dialectics  in  which  the  theologians 
had  bewildered  themselves,  and  those  extravagant 
syllogisms,  by  which  they  pretended  to  support  the 
church.  She  unveils  the  disorders,  ignorance,  filthy 
habits,  and  absurdities  of  the  monks. 

" '  They  all  belong  to  me,'  says  she,  '  those  folks 
whose  greatest  pleasure  is  in  relating  miracles,  or 
listening  to  marvellous  lies,  and  who  make  use  of 
them  in  an  especial  manner  to  beguile  the  dulness 
of  others,  and  to  fill  their  own  jjurses — I  speak 
particularly  of  priests  and  preachers !  In  the  same 
category  are  those  who  enjoy  the  foolish  but  sweet 
persuasion  that  if  they  chance  to  see  a  piece  of 
wood  or  a  picture  representing  Polj^phemus  or 
Christopher,  they  will  not  die  that  day.' 

" '  Alas,  what  follies,'  continues  Moria ;  '  I  am 


OF  MAETIN   LUTHER.  167 

almost  ashamed  of  tliem  myself.  Do  we  not  see 
every  country  claiming  its  peculiar  saint?  Each 
trouble  has  its  saint,  and  every  saint  his  candle. 
This  cures  toothache ;  that  assists  women  in  child- 
bed ;  a  third  restores  what  a  thief  has  stolen  ;  a 
fourth  preserves  you  in  shipwreck  ;  and  a  fifth  pro- 
tects your  flocks.  There  are  some  who  have  many 
virtues  at  once,  and  especially  the  virgin  mother  of 
God,  in  whom  the  people  place  more  confidence 
than  in  her  Son. 

" '  If  in  the  midst  of  all  these  mummeries,  some 
wise  man  should  rise  and  give  utterance  to  these 
harsh  truths  :  'You  shall  not  perish  miserably  if 
you  Kve  like  Christians — you  shall  redeem  your 
sins,  if  to  your  alms  you  add  repentance,  tears, 
watchings,  prayer,  fasting,  and  a  complete  change 
in  your  way  of  life ;  this  saint  will  protect  jow.  if 
you  imitate  his  conduct !'— if,  I  say,  some  wise 
man  should  charitably  utter  these  things  in  their 
ears,  Oh,  of  what  happiness  would  it  not  rob  their 
souls,  and  into  what  trouble,  what  distress,  would 
it  not  plunge  them  !  The  mind  of  man  is  so  consti- 
tuted that  imposture  has  more  hold  upon  it  than 
truth.  If  there  is  one  saint  more  apocryphal  than 
another — a  St.  George,  St.  Christopher,  or  St. 
Barbara — you  will  see  him  worshipped  with  greater 
fervency  than  St.  Peter,  St.  Paul,  or  even  than 
Christ  himself.* 

"  But  Moria  does  not  stop  here :   she  attacks 
the  bishops,  'who  run  more  after  gold  than  after 
*  "Aut  ipsum  Christum. "  Encomium  Moriie,  0pp.  IV.,  414. 


168  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

souls,  and  who  tliiuk  they  have  done  enough  for 
Jesus  Christ,  when  they  take  their  seats  with  the- 
atj'ical  pomp,  Hke  holy  fathers  to  whom  adoration 
belongs,  and  utter  blessings  or  anathemas.' 

"  The  daughter  of  the  Fortunate  Isles  even 
ventures  to  attack  the  court  of  Rome,  and  the  pope 
himself,  who,  passing  his  time  in  amusements,  leaves 
the  duties  of  his  ministry  to  St,  Peter  and  St.  Paul. 
*  Can  there  be  any  greater  enemies  to  the  church,' 
she  queries,  '  than  those  unholy  pontiffs  who  by  their 
silence  allow  Jesus  Christ  to  be  forgotten  ;  who 
bind  him  by  their  mercenary  regulations ;  who  falsify 
his  doctrines  by  forced  interpretations,  and  crucify 
him  a  second  time  by  their  scandalous  lives  P''^ 

"  Holbein  added  the  most  grotesque  illustrations 
to  the  praise  of  folly,  in  which  the  pope  figured  with 
his  triple  crown. 

"It  is  impossible  to  describe  the  impression 
this  little  book  produced  throughout  Christendom. 
Twenty-seven  editions  appeared  in  the  lifetime  of 
Erasmus :  it  was  translated  into  every  European 
language,  and  contributed  more  than  any  other  tc? 
confirm  the  antisacerdotal  tendency  of  the  age. 

"  But  to  the  popular  attack  of  sarcasm,  Eras- 
mus added  science  and  learning.  The  study  of 
Greek  and  Latin  literature  had  opened  a  new  pros- 
pect to  the  modern  genius  that  was  beginning  to 
awaken  from  its  slumber  in  Europe.  Erasmus 
eagerly  embraced  the  idea  of  the  Italians,  that  the 
sciences  ought  to  be  studied  in  the  schools  of  the 

*  Eucomuim  Morios,  Ojip.  IV.,  p.  450. 


or  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  169 

ancients,  and  that,  laying  aside  the  inadequate  and 
absurd  works  that  had  hitherto  been  in  use,  men 
should  study  geography  in  Strabo,  medicine  in 
Hippocrates,  philosophy  in  Plato,  mythology  in 
Ovid,  and  natural  history  in  Pliny. 

"  But  he  went  a  step  further,  and  it  was  the 
step  of  a  giant,  and  must  necessarily  have  led  to 
the  discovery  of  a  new  world  of  greater  importance 
to  the  interests  of  humanity  than  that  which  Co- 
lumbus had  recently  added  to  the  old.  Erasmus, 
following  out  his  principle,  required  that  men  should 
no  longer  study  theology  in  Scotus  and  Aquinas, 
but  go  and  learn  it  in  the  writings  of  the  fathers  of 
the  church,  and  above  all,  in  the  New  Testament. 
He  showed  that  they  must  not  even  rest  contented 
with  the  Vulgate,  which  swarmed  with  errors ;  and 
he  rendered  an  incalculable  service  to  truth  by 
publishing  his  critical  edition  of  the  Greek  text  of 
the  New  Testament — a  text-  as  little  known  in  the 
West  as  if  it  had  never  existed. 

"  This  work  appeared  at  Basle  in  1516,  one  year 
before  the  Reformation. 

"Erasmus  thus  did  for  the  New  Testament 
what  Reuchlin  had  done  for  the  Old.  Thencefor- 
ward divines  were  enabled  to  read  the  word  of  God 
in  the  original  languages,  and  at  a  later  period,  to 
recognize  the  purity  of  the  reformed  doctrines. 

" '  It  is  my  desire,'  wrote  Erasmus  on  the  publi- 
cation of  his  Greek  text  of  the  New  Testament,  '  to 
lead  back  that  cold  disputer  of  words  styled  theol- 
ogy to  its  real  fountain.     Would  to  God  that  this 


170  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

work  may  bear  as  mucli  fruit  to  Cliristianity  as  it 
has  cost  me  toil  and  ajDplication.'  "* 

The  strength  of  Erasmus  lay  in  the  acuteness  of 
his  judgment ;  this  rendered  him  equally  great  as  a 
morahst  and  as  a  wit.  His  learning,  though  varied 
and  extensive,  was  not  more  than  he  found  the 
means  of  employing  in  his  bold  and  sarcastic  dis- 
cussions; and  he  enjoys  the  reputation  of  having 
been  the  first  to  display,  in  clear,  intelligible  char- 
acters, the  essential  difference  between  an  estab- 
lished religion  and  its  established  representatives.! 

But  here  he  paused.  He  had  neither  the  cour- 
age nor  the  desire  to  play  the  reformer.  Luther, 
who  knew  him  well,  wrote,  "  Erasmus  is  very  capa- 
ble of  exposing  error,  but  he  knows  not  how  to  teach 
fhe  truth." 

Erasmus  was  always  ready  to  acknowledge  his 
timidity.  "If  the  corrupted  morals  of  Borne  call 
for  a  prompt  and  vigorous  remedy,"  he  wrote,  "that 
is  no  business  of  mine,  nor  of  those  who  are  like 
me.  Let  others  aspire  to  martyrdom ;  I  do  not 
think  myself  worthy  of  such  an  honor.  I  fear  that  if 
any  disturbance  should  arise,  I  should  imitate  Peter 
in  his  fall."."!: 

When  the  dreaded  disturbance  did  arise,  the 
cowardly  and  sneering  scholar  did  indeed  "  imitate 
Peter  in  his  fall,"  turned  his  back  upon  that  glori- 
ous light  which  he  had  himself  assisted  to  kindle, 

*  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  I.,  chap.  VIII.,  passhn. 

t  Stebbing's  History  of  the  Eeformation,  Vol.  I.,  p.  46. 

t  Ego  me  nou  arbitroi-  hoc  honore  dignum,  etc.  Ev.  Epp.  I.,  G53. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  171 

and  hastening  to  Rome,  hid  his  candle  under  the 
pontifical  bushel. 

"I  am  reading  Erasmus,"  said  Luther  on  one 
occasion,  "  but  ho  daily  loses  credit  with  me.  I 
like  to  see  him  rebuke  with  so  much  firmness  and 
learning  the  grovelling  ignorance  of  the  priests  and 
monks,  but  I  fear  that  he  does  not  render  much 
service  to  the  doctrine  of  Jesus  Christ.  What  is  of 
man  io  dearer  to  him  than  what  is  of  God.  We  are 
living  in  dangerous  times.  A  man  is  not  a  good  and 
judicious  Christian  because  he  understands  Greek 
and  Hebrew.  Jerome,  who  knew  five  languages,  is 
inferior  to  Augustine,  who  knew  but  one,  although 
Erasmus  thinks  the  contrary. 

"  I  very  carefully  conceal  my  opinions  concern- 
ing Erasmus,  through  fear  of  giving  advantage  to 
his  enemies.  Perhaps  the  Lord  will  give  him  un- 
derstanding in  good  time."t 

It  is  said  that  Erasmus,  who  was  in  the  Nether- 
lands when  he  first  read  the  theses  of  the  nascent 
chief  of  the  Reformation,  admired  and  applauded 
them.  Indeed  he  well  might  approve  these  tenets 
of  the  Wittemberg  doctor,  for  they  scarcely  ex-" 
ceeded  many  of  his  own  writings  in  pith  and  direct- 
ness of  assault  upon  the  Roman  ecclesiasticism. 

"I  am  not  surprised,"  said  the  sage  of  Rotter- 
dam to  the  elector  Frederick,  when  that  prince  once 
asked  his  opinion  of  his  monk's  theses — "  I  am  not 
at  all  surprised  that  they  have  made  so  much  noise, 
for  ho  has  committed  two  unpardonable  sins:  ho 
*  L.  Epp.  to  Spalatiu,  I.,  22. 


172  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

lias  attacked  the  pope's  tiara  aud  the  monks'  bel- 
Hes."* 

But  while  Erasmus  was  spending  his  strength 
and  wasting  his  rhetoric  in  petty  skirmishes  with 
the  extreme  outj^osts  of  the  Roman  hosts — while 
the  timid  scholar  played  at  war  with  wooden  swords 
and  mimic  guns,  carefully  restraining  the  martial 
ardor  of  his  adherents  when  he  detected  any  dispo- 
sition on  their  part  to  merge  their  mock  combat 
into  a  real  one,  by  repeating  his  favorite  maxim, 
"  A  disadvantageous  peace  is  better  than  the  most 
righteous  war"t — the  bold  Saxon  monk,  careless  of 
his  reputation,  putting  safety  and  comfort  behind 
his  back,  marched  on  step  by  step  to  his  terrific 
conflict  with  the  Roman  see. 

*  Miiller's  Denkw.,  IV.,  256. 
"f  "Malo  hunc  qualisqualis  estrerum  humanarnm  statum,  qiiam 
novas  excitari  tumultus,"  he  said  on  another  occasion.     Eras. 
Epp.,  I.,  953. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  1T3 


CHAPTEE  XV. 

Luther's  controversial  acumen  and  evangelical 
knowledge  were  more  perfectly  developed  and  shone 
more  luminously  as  his  controversy  with  Tetzel, 
Prierias,  and  Eck  advanced. 

At  Frankfort-on-the-Oder  there  had  been  re- 
cently established  by  the  scholastic  party  a  univer- 
sity which  represented  the  ethical  systems  of  Aqui- 
nas and  Aristotle,  as  that  of  Wittemberg  did  the 
theology  of  the  Bible.  Conrad  Wimpina,  an  an- 
cient rival  of  Mellerstadt,  was  the  most  distin- 
guished professor  of  its  faculty. 

We  have  ah-eady  seen  that  it  was  at  Frankfort 
that  Tetzel  had  received  Luther's  theses.*  Feeling 
his  inability  to  cope  singly  with  the  formidable 
Wittemberg  doctor,  he  called  Wimpina,  who  was 
noted  for  his  eloquence  and  dialectic  skill,t  to  his 
assistance.  Having  thus  enlisted  the  Frankfort 
university,  and  collected  several  hundred  monks  to 
give  splendor  to  the  ceremony,  he  repaired  with  his 
recruits  to  the  chapel  of  his  order,  and  reading  there 
to  a  crowded  auditory  two  lists  of  ante-theses,  one 
on  the  doctrine  of  indulgences,  the  other  on  the 
authority  of  the  pope,  which  had  been  drawn  up  by 
the  crafty  pen  of  Wimpina,  announced  his  readi- 

*  Chap.  XIII.  8eo  Liitlier's  account  of  tlie  iudulgence  coutro- 
versy. 

t  Dix  Piu,  Maimbourg,  Seckenclorf. 


174  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

ness  to  maintain  all  his  propositions  in  public  dis- 
putation. 

After  reading  a  number  of  extravagant  theses  in 
defence  of  his  indulgences,  the  Dominican  broker 
in  the  salvation  of  souls  adroitly  changed  the  whole 
ground  of  the  controversy  by  taking  shelter  under 
the  shadow  of  the  pontifical  throne,  and  assuming 
to  be  the  special  champion  of  the  outraged  dignity 
of  the  pope. 

On  this  point  he  read  these  propositions,  among 
others  of  a  similar  purport : 

"  We  should  teach  Christians  that  the  pope,  by 
the  greatness  of  his  power,  is  above  the  whole  uni- 
versal church  and  superior  to  the  councils,  and  that 
we  should  obey  implicitly  all  his  decrees. 

"  We  should  teach  Christians  that  the  pope  alone 
has  the  right  of  deciding  in  all  matters  of  Christian 
faith;  that  he  alone,  and  no  one  besides  him,  has 
power  to  interpret  the  meaning  of  Scripture  accord- 
ing to  his  own  views,  and  to  approve  or  condemn 
all  the  words  or  writings  of  other  men. 

"  We  should  teach  Christians  that  the  judgment 
of  the  pope  cannot  err  in  matters  concerning  the 
Christian  faith,  or  which  are  necessary  to  the  salva- 
tion of  the  human  race. 

"  We  should  teach  Christians  that  in  matters  of 
faith  we  should  rely  and  repose  more  on  the  pope's 
sentiments  as  made  known  by  his  decisions,  than  on 
the  opinions  of  all  the  learned  which  are  derived 
merely  from  Scripture. 

"  We  should  teach  Christians  that  those  who 


or  MARTIN  LUTHER.  175 

injure  the  honor  or  dignity  of  the  pope  are  guilty 
of  high  treason,  and  deserve  to  be  accursed. 

"  We  should  teach  Christians  that  there  are 
many  things  which  the  church  regards  as  indispu- 
table articles  of  universal  truth,  although  they  are 
not  to  be  found  in  the  canon  of  the  Bible  or  in  the 
wi'itings  of  the  ancient  doctors." 

After  reading  several  other  theses  aimed  at 
those  who  should  protect  the  teachers  of  contrary 
doctrines,  and  at  those  who  should  circulate,  read, 
and  endorse  the  heretical  writings,  Tetzel  paused, 
and  glancing  brazenly  over  his  audience,  seemed  to 
challenge  contradiction. 

It  came  most  unexpectedly,  and  from  a  surprising 
source. 

A  boy  of  twenty  named  John  Knipstrow,  who 
had  read  and  admired  Luther's  theses,  indignant 
at  the  wanton  falsehood  of  the  astonishing  theses 
to  which  he  had  just  Hstened,  and  surprised  at  the 
silence  of  the  university  theologians,  stood  forth  and 
attacked  Tetzel's  dogmas  with  remarkable  vigor  and 
skiU. 

He  speedily  drove  the  great  indulgence-monger 
from  the  arena,  and  also  inflicted  a  sad  defeat  upon 
"Wimpiua  himself,  who  had  hastened  to  the  defence 
of  his  imperilled  propositions.* 

Chagrined  at  this  double  rout,  Wimpina  declar- 
ed the  disputation  over,  and  conferring  a  doctorate 
upon  Tetzel  for  his  share  iu  this  glorious  verbal 
combat,  hurried  into  the  market-place,  and  placing 

*  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  I.,  p.  301. 


176  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

those  theses  of  the  Saxon  monk  which  he  could  not 
answer  in  a  pile,  had  recourse  to  the  ultima  ratio  of 
Rome  and  of  the  inquisition — to  fire.* 

In  the  meantime,  Luther — who  felt  that  he  had 
done  his  duty  in  exposing  the  chicaneries  of  the 
indulgence  traffickers,  was  exceedingly  disposed  to 
take  no  further  steps  in  the  matter,  and  had  in- 
deed gone  so  far  as  to  write  to  the  Bishop  of  Bran- 
denberg,  who  had  urged  him  not  to  disturb  the  peace 
of  Christendom,  "I  will  obey  implicitly;  I  had  rather 
so  than  perform  miracles,  even  had  I  the  gift  of 
performing  miracles" t — ^found  his  pacific  resolutions 
shaken  by  the  insults  which  Tetzel  had  thus  pub- 
licly showered  upon  himself  and  his  cause. 

Shortly  after  hearing  of  the  proceedings  at 
Frankfort,  he  wrote  his  good  friend  Spalatin  :  "  I 
have  more  difiiculty  to  refrain  from  despising  my 
adversaries,  and  in  sinning  in  this  way  against 
Jesus  Christ,  than  I  should  have  in  conquering  them. 

"  They  are  so  ignoi'ant  of  human  and  divine 
things,  that  it  is  disgraceful  to  have  to  fight  them  ; 
and  3^et  it  is  their  very  ignorance  wliich  gives  them 
their  inconceivable  arrogance  and  their  brazen 
face."| 

A  little  later  he  wrote  again  :  "  Be  not  surprised, 
Oh  Spalatin,  that  I  am  so  gTossly  insulted.  I  listen 
to  their  abuse  with  joy.  If  they  did  not  curse  me, 
I  could  not  be  so  firmly  assured  that  the  cause  I 
have  undertaken  is  that  of  God  himself."§ 

*  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  I.,  p.  302.  t  Michelet,  p.  32.- 

t  Epp.  Luth.,  I.,  92.  §  L.  Epp.,  I.,  85. 


or  MARTIN  LUTHER.  177 

"I  know,"  he  said  on  another  occasion,  "that 
from  the  very  beginning  of  the  world  the  word  of 
God  has  been  of  such  a  nature  that  whoever  desires 
to  pubhsh  it  to  the  world  has  been  compelled,  like 
the  apostles,  to  abandon  all  things,  and  to  expect 
death.  If  it  were  not  so,  it  would  not  be  the  word 
of  Christ.  The  word  of  God  was  purchased  by 
death,  proclaimed  by  death,  preserved  by  death,  and 
by  death  must  it  be  preserved  and  published."* 

There  was  one  thing  which  gave  Luther  much 
anxiety  all  through  these  initial  days,  and  that  was 
a  fear  lest  his  actions  might  involve  his  dear  prince 
the  elector  in  trouble,  and  indeed  launch  all  Eu- 
rope into  bloody  collision.  "  I  tremble,"  he  wrote, 
"  I  shudder  at  the  idea  that  I  may  be  an  occasion 
of  discord  between  mighty  princes,"! 

He  knew  the  potency  and  the  explosive  j)Ower 
of  ideas.  It  was  with  an  idea  that  Leonidas  had 
beaten  back  the  surging  Persian  host  at  the  pass  of 
Thermopylae.  It  was  with  an  idea  that  Eienzi  had 
revolutionized  mediaeval  Rome,  lighted  once  more 
the  old  classic  torches,  whose  glimmer  so  affrighted 
barbarism  that  it  rushed  to  the  "eternal  city"  and 
extinguished  the  new  blaze.  It  was  with  an  idea 
that  Ab(^lard  had  smitten  the  theology  of  the  Koman 
see.  It  was  with  an  idea  that  Huss  had  braved'  the 
lurid  fire  of  Constance,  leaving  his  ashes  as  a  sacred 
legacy  to  liberty  and  truth. 

*  L.  Epp. 

t  "Inter  tantos  principes  dissidii  origo  esse,  valde  horreo  et 
timeo.  •    L.  Epp.,  I.,  93. 

8* 


c 


178  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

The  most  superficial  acquaintance  with  history 
then  was  sufficient  to  convince  Luther  of  the  vast 
force  of  ideas,  and  bid  him  pause  ere  he  uttered 
what  might  be  stereotyped  into  false  practice. 

For  with  the  Saxon  reformer,  belief  and  action 
went  hand  in  hand.  Erasmus  wrote,  but  he  con- 
tented himself  with  writing.  He  neither  intended 
nor  wished  to  inaugurate  a  better  regime  than  the 
one  whose  vices  he  satirized.  So  Plato  taught  in 
the  groves  of  the  academy ;  nobody  cared  what  he 
taught.  Socrates  went  out  into  the  streets  of 
Athens,  struck  the  altars  of  the  pagan  gods,  proved 
their  hollowness,  set  the  example  of  active  opposi- 
tion, and  they  forced  him  to  drink  the  fatal  hem- 
lock. 

But  Luther  ere  long  saw  his  duty  clearly  through 
the  misty  doubts  which  seem  to  have  beset  him 
after  the  publication  of  his  theses ;  and  indeed  his 
adversaries  would  not  permit  the  storm  to  blow 
over. 

Tetzel,  after  his  auto  da  fe  at  Frankfort,  had 
commissioned  a  monk  fi'om  Halle  to  carry  his 
propositions  into  Saxony  with  all  haste,  in  his  ego- 
tism believing  that  his  extravagant  ravings  would 
prove  a  sufficient  antidote  to  those  of  the  Wittem- 
berg  doctor. 

The  lackey  monk  in  due  time  arrived  at  Wit- 
temberg,  but  his  reception  was  not  at  all  to  his  lik- 
ing. 

The  exasperated  students  of  the  "Wittemberg 
university,    upon    being  informed    of  his    arrival, 


or  MARTIN  LUTHER.  179 

mobbed  liim,  seized  his  copies  of  the  theses,  some 
eight  hundred  in  number,  and  then,  unknown  to  the 
authorities,  ecclesiastical,  civil,  and  academic,  of  the 
staid  old  town,  posted  up  this  notice :  "  Whoever 
wishes  to  attend  the  funeral  of  Tetzel's  theses  should 
come  to  the  market-place  at  six  o'clock.  Wail,  ye 
mourners,  wail,"" 

As  the  bell  in  the  tower  of  the  town-hall  struck 
six,  the  students  marched' in  solemn  procession  to 
the  market-place,  iinitating  the  pompous  parade  of 
Tetzel's  recruits  at  Frankfort.  They  found  upon 
their  arrival  dense  masses  of  sympathizing  burghers 
already  congregated  at  the  rendezvous,  who  pre- 
pared to  help  them  hold  high  carnival. 

All  being  ready,  the  Frankfort  theses  were  placed 
in  the  flames  amid  the  cheers  and  derisive  laugh- 
ter of  the  self-constituted  inquisitors.  After  their 
destruction  the  crowd  dispersed  quietly,  and  the 
market-place  resumed  its  customary  sombre  as- 
pect.f 

We  have  abeady  seen  that  Luther  was  grieved 
at  these  proceedings,!  the  report  of  which  spread 
raj)idly  throughout  Germany. 

His  feelings  concerning  this  academical  execu- 
tion are  still  further  exhibited  by  two  letters  written 
shortly  afterwards.  The  first  was  to  his  old  preceptor 
at  Erfurth,  Jodocus :  "  I  am  surprised,"  he  said, "  that 
you  should  have  believed  that  I  allowed  Tetzel's 

<*  Van  Brandt's  History  of  the  Reformation. 

f  Van  Brandt,  D'Aubigne. 

X  See  Chap.  XIII.    Luther's  account  of  the  indulgence  troubles. 


130  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

theses  to  be  burned.  Do  you  tliink  I  have  so  taken 
leave  of  my  senses  ?  But  what  could  I  do  ?  Can 
I  stop  the  mouths  of  the  whole  world?  Well,  let 
them  say,  hear,  and  believe  whatever  they  Uke  con- 
cerning me.  I  shall  work  so  long  as  God  gives  me 
strength,  and  with  his  strength  I  shall  fear  nothing."* 

This  is  what  he  wrote  to  Lange  :  "  What  will 
come  of  it  I  know  not,  except  that  the  peril  in  which 
I  am  involved  becomes*  gi"eater  on  this  very  ac- 
count."t 

But  the  wrath  which  was  to  fall  upon  him  was 
for  the  present  held  in  abeyance,  and  allowed  to  ac- 
cumulate. 

In  the  meantime  Sylvester  Mazzolini  of  Prie- 
rias,  whom  Luther  in  his  writings  terms  Sylvestro 
Prierio,  an  upstart  pedant,  made  envious  by  the 
fame  acquired  by  Wimpina  and  others  of  Luther's 
opponents,  determined  to  discharge  his  scholastic 
artillery  against  the  intrenchments  of  the  Saxon 
monk.  The  trophies  of  Miltiades  would  not  let  him 
sleep. 

Accordingly  a  polemical  pamphlet  speedily  ap- 
peared in  the  form  of  a  dialogue,  in  which  Luther 
and  himself  were  the  speakers,  and  in  which  the 
mushroom  savant,  after  totally  misrepresenting  the 
opinions  of  the  Wittemberg  professor,  wasted  his 
strength  in  knocking  down  his  man  of  sk'aw. 

This  work  of  the  Eoman  Hcenser  teems  with 
scurillity.  Indeed  it  is  a  mosaic  of  vile  epithets  and 
ominous  threats. 

♦  L.  Epp.,  L,  109.  t  L-  EPP-.  I-.  98. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  181 

"If  it  is  in  tlie  nature  of  dogs  to  bite,"  lie  wrote, 
"I  fear  that  you  had  a  dog  for  your  father."* 

As  showing  how  Httle  Prierias  understood  the 
grounds  of  Luther's  objections  to  the  indulgences^ 
take  this  sentence : 

"  My  dear  Luther,  if  you  were  to  receive  from 
our  lord  the  pope  a  good  bishopric  and  a  plenary 
indulgence  for  repairing  your  church,  you  would 
sing  in  a  softer  strain,  and  you  would  extol  the  in- 
dulgences you  are  now  disparaging;"  and  after 
penning  this  sentence,  the  lazy  censor  very  likely 
leaned  back  in  his  luxurious  easy-chair,  gazed  ad- 
miringly about  his  sumptuous  apartment,  thought 
how  fine  a  thing  it  was  to  be  a  placeman  and  to  be 
in  favor  at  the  court,  muttered,  "The  lines  have 
fallen  unto  us  in  pleasant  places,"  smoothed  his 
rufiles,  and  dozed  oS  to  sleep. 

Is  it  to  be  wondered  at  that  Prierias  and  his 
fellows  growled  and  showed  their  teeth  at  the  slight- 
est sign  of  any  commotion  which  might  have  a  ten- 
dency to  interruj^t  the  dolce  far  niente  of  their  lives  ? 

But  the  idea  of  such  a  pigmy's  running  up  and 
down  the  sides  of  Martin  Luther,  and  attempting  to 
measure  him  with  his  little  papal  yardstick,  is  suf- 
ficiently ridiculous.  Is  it  surj)rising  that  Luther 
wrote,  "I  have  more  difficulty  to  refrain  from  de- 
spising my  adversaries,  than  I  should  have  in  con- 
quering them?" 

There  was  one  passage  in  the  dialogue  which 

*  "Si  mordere  cauuiu  est  proinium,  vereor  ne  tibi  pater  canis 
fuerit."    Sylv.  rricrio's  Dialogue,  etc. 


182  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

was  significant,  and  wliicli  smelt  strongly  of  fire: 
"Tlie  Roman  churcli,  the  apex  of  whose  spiritual 
and  temporal  power  is  in  the  pope,  may  constrain 
by  the  secular  arm  those  who,  having  once  received 
the  faith,  afterwards  go  astray.  It  is  not  bound  to 
employ  reason  to  combat  and  vanquish  rebels."'^ 

Luther  was  inclined  to  treat  this  pamphlet  with 
that  silent  contempt  which  intrinsically  it  deserved. 
But  his  friends,  fearful  that  his  silence  might  be 
construed  into  inability  to  answer  this  Roman  cen- 
sor, who  was  also  prior-general  of  the  Dominicans, 
at  length  persuaded  him  to  respond  to  it. 

Shutting  himself  up  in  his  cell,  he  prepared  his 
triumphant  answer  in  the  incredibly  short  space  of 
two  days.f 

"This  combat  between  the  Augustinian  of  Wit- 
temberg  and  the  Dominican  of  Rome,"  says  D'Au- 
bigne,  "  was  waged  on  the  very  question  that  is  the 
^rincijDle  of  the  Reformation,  namely,  '  What  is  the 
sole  infallible  authority  for  Christians  ?' 

"Here  is  a  synopsis  of  the  system  of  the  Roman 
church,  as  set  forth  by  Prierias : 

"The  letter  of  the  written  word  is  dead  without 
the  spirit  of  interpretation,  which  alone  reveals  its 
hidden  meaning. 

"Now  this  spirit  is  not  given  to  every  Christian, 
but  to  the  church,  that  is,  to  the  priests.  It  is 
great  presumption  to  say,  that  He  who  promised 
the  church  to  be  with  her  always,  even  to  the  end 
of  the  world,  could  have  abandoned  her  to  the  power 

«  Prierio's  Dialogue.  t  ^-  '^orks-. 


or  MARTIN  LUTHER.  183 

of  error.  It  will  be  said  perhaps,  that  the  doctrine 
and  constitution  of  the  church  are  no  longer  such 
as  we  find  them  in  the  sacred  oracles.  Undoubtedly, 
but  this  change  is  only  in  appearance ;  it  extends 
only  to  the  form,  and  not  to  the  substance. 

"  We  may  go  further :  this  change  is  progres- 
sion. The  vivifying  power  of  the  divine  Spirit  has 
given  a  reality  to  what  in  Scripture  was  merely  an 
idea  ;  it  has  filled  up  the  outline  of  the  word ;  it  has 
put  a  finishing  touch  to  its  rude  sketches;  it  has 
completed  the  work  of  which  the  Bible  only  gave 
the  first  rough  draft. 

"We  must  therefore  understand  the  sense  of  the 
holy  Scriptures,  as  settled  by  the  church,  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

"From  this  point  the  paths  of  the  Eoman  doc- 
tors diverge.  General  councils  were  affirmed  by 
some  to  be  the  rej)resentatives  of  the  church,  while 
others  asserted  that  the  pope  alone  was  the  depos- 
itory of  the  spirit  of  interpretation,  and  no  one  has 
a  right  to  understand  the  Scriptures  otherwise  than 
as  decreed  by  the  Eoman  pontiff.  This  Avas  the 
assumption  of  Prierias,  and  of  most  of  the  papal 
theologians  of  that  age."* 

Indeed  Prierias  laid  down  this  proj)osition : 
"  Whoever  relies  not  on  the  teaching  of  the  Eoman 
church,  and  of  the  Eoman  j)ontiff,  as  the  infalhble 
rule  of  faith,  from  which  the  holy  Scriptures  them- 
selves derive  their  strength  and  their  authority,  is  a 
heretic." 

•"•  D'Aubigue,  Vol.  I.,  jip.  308,  309. 


184  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

"  The  Bible,"  observes  D'Aubign6,  "  had  mould- 
ed the  reformer  and  begun  the  Beformation.  Luther 
needed  not  the  testimony  of  the  church  in  order  to 
believe.  His  faith  had  come  from  the  Bible  itself ; 
from  within,  not  from  without.  He  was  so  inti- 
mately convinced  that  the  evangelical  doctrine  was 
immovably  founded  on  the  word  of  God,  that  in  his 
eyes  all  external  authority  was  useless.  Thus  by  a 
bold  movement  Luther  changed  the  resting-place  of 
the  sublimest  hopes  of  the  human  heart,  and  with 
a  hand  of  power  transported  them  from  the  walls 
of  the  Yatican  to  the  rock  of  the  word  of  God. 
And  this  was  the  work  which  he  had  in  view  in  his 
reply  to  Prierias."^ 

Luther  passed  lightly  over  the  principles  which 
his  adversary  had  laid  down  in  the  commencement 
of  his  pamphlet.  "But,"  he  said,  "following  your 
example,  I  will  also  lay  down  certain  fundamental 
principles : 

"  The  first  is  the  expression  of  St.  Paul :  '  Though 
toe,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  preach  any  other  gospel 
unto  you  than  that  lokich  we  have  p)reached  unto  you, 
let  Mm  he  accursed.^ 

"  The  second  is  this  passage  from  St.  Augustine : 
'I  have  learned  to  render  to  the  canonical  books 
alone  the  honor  of  believing  most  firmly  that  none 
of  them  has  erred ;  as  for  the  others,  I  do  not  be- 
lieve in  what  they  teach,  simply  because  it  is  they 
who  teach  them.' 

"  If  you  clearly  understand  these  points,"  con- 
*  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  310,  311. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  185 

tinued  lie,  "  you  Avill  perceive  that  your  dialogue  is 
completely  answered  by  them ;  for  you  have  ouly 
cited  the  opiuions  of  Aquinas." 

Luther  next  assaulted  Prierias'  axioms,  boldly 
declaring  his  dissent  from  the  doctrine  that  popes 
and  councils  cannot  err,  and  ridiculing  the  flatteries 
of  the  Roman  courtiers  who  ascribed  both  temporal 
and  spiritual  power  to  the  pontifi',  and  fed  his  pride 
by  their  gross  and  adulatory  phrases. 

Noticing  the  sleek  churchman's  insinuation  that 
his  discontent  was  bred  by  his  lack  of  high  ecclesi- 
astical office  and  honors,  he  said,  "You  judge  me 
by  3"ourself ;  but  if  I  aspired  to  an  episcopal  station, 
of  a  surety  I  should  not  use  the  language  that  is  so 
grating  to  your  ears. 

"Do  you  imagine  that  I  am  ignorant  of  how 
bishoprics  and  the  priesthood  are  obtained  at  Eome  ? 
Do  not  the  very  children  sing  in  the  streets  these 
well  known  words : 

"  'Of  all  foul  spots  the  world  around, 
The  foulest  spot  in  Eome  is  found. '  " 

Luther  closed  his  annihilating  reply  with  this 
reference  to  the  threats  of  the  haughty  Dominican  : 
"  Finally,  you  say  that  the  pontiff  is  at  once  j)ope 
and  emperor,  and  that  he  is  mighty  to  compel 
obedience  by  the  secular  arm.  Do  you  thirst  for 
blood?  I  protest  that  you  will  not  frighten  me 
either  by  your  rhodomontadcs,  or  by  the  threaten- 
ing noise  of  your  Mords. 

"  If  I  am  put  to  death,  Christ  lives — Christ,  my 


186  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Lord,  and  tlie  Lord  of  all,  blessed  for  evermore. 
Amen."* 

"  Thus,"  observes  an  able  ecclesiastical  historian, 
"  Luther  erected  with  a  firm  hand,  against  the  infi- 
del altar  of  the  Papacy,  the  altar  of  the  only  infalli- 
ble and  holy  word  of  God,  before  which  he  would 
have  every  knee  to  bow,  and  on  which  he  declares 
himself  ready  to  ofi'er  up  his  hfe." 

*  L.  0pp.  Lat.,  p.  186. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  187 


CHAPTEE   XVI. 

The  preceding  detail  of  facts  and  observations 
unavoidably  leads  the  mind  to  this  conclusion: 
Luther  was  far  advanced  in  evangelical  know- 
ledge, and  he  appears  to  have  been  an  experienced 
Christian  some  time  ere  he  became  known  to  the 
world,  though  of  course  the  proofs  of  his  rapid 
gi'owth  in  independence  of  thought,  and  in  a  certain 
familiarity  with  the  essential  doctrines  of  the  Bible, 
are  clearly  perceptible  since  the  commencement  of 
his  healthful  controversy  with  the  Eomish  hierarchy. 

But  though  Luther  even  thus  early  laid  down 
the  essential  principle  of  the  Reformation,  the 
"W'ord  of  God,  the  whole  word  of  God,  and  nothing 
but- the  word  of  God,  he  still  remained  strongly 
wedded  to  the  outward  badges  of  superstition;  he 
as  yet  made  no  effort  to  abandon  the  established 
formulas  of  Rome,  and  he  was  slow  to  admit  the 
conviction  of  the  antichristian  character  of  the  hie- 
rarchy." 

He  dreaded  the  sin  of  schism ;  and  the  impetu- 
ous fire  of  his  temper  was  pei'petually  checked  by 
the  admonitions  of  his  timid  conscience. 

In  this  singular  character  there  was  certainly 

united  an  assemblage  of  qualities  rarely  found  in 

the  same  person — the  greatest  caution  in  conduct, 

with  a  temper  of  remarkable  ardor,  and  even  choler. 

»  Milner's  Church  nistoiy,  Vol.  II.,  p.  227. 


188  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Too  often  this  last  quality  displayed  itself  by 
betraying  liim  into  a  blamable  asperity  of  lan- 
guage, tliougli  even  that  is  extenuated  by  a  remem- 
brance of  the  vile  epithets  which  were  showered 
uj)on  him  by  his  intemperate  and  unscrupulous 
opponents,  and  by  the  further  recollection  that  the 
polemical  writings  of  that  age  were  habitually 
couched  in  the  language  of  invective  ;  but  to  what- 
ever rhetorical  excesses  his  enthusiastic  nature 
impelled  him,  it  seldom  influenced  his  measures  or 
plans  of  action.* 

The  XDoet's  sim23le,  but  sublime  description  of 
one  of  his  dramatic  heroes,  "He  feared  God,  and 
he  feared  none  besides,"  is  eminently  true  of  the 
Saxon  theologian.t 

Although  Luther's  response  to  Prierias  had,  by 
the  acknowledgment  of  later  Roman  historians,^ 
annihilated  his  arguments — although  Luther  iiad 
made  the  hand  of  St.  Paul  choke  the  sophistries  of 
Aquinas — the  censor,  after  the  custom  of  defeated 
champions,  attemj^ted  to  extricate  himself  from  his 
embarrassments  by  the  publication  of  a  second,  and 
then  a  third  book,  in  which  he  indulged  in  more 
extravagant  expressions  than  those  of  Tetzel  him- 
self, even  announcing  that  "  though  the  pope  should 
make  the  world  go  with  him  to  hell,  he  could  neither 
be  condemned  nor  deposed."§ 

«  Milner's  Church  History,  Vol.  II.,  p.  227. 
t  Maimbourg,  quoted  iu  Seek,  at  -p.  28. 
f  Varillas,  Bossuet,  etc. 

§  Da    Juridica   et    IiTefragabili    veritate   Ilomanas    Eccleslae. 
Liber  tertius,  cap.  12. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  189 

At  length  Leo  himself  was  startled  by  these 
blasphemies,  and  he  placed  in  the  month  of  Prierias 
one  of  those  gags  which  the  Dominican  prior- 
general  was  so  fond  of  ai3plying  to  others.* 

Another  opponent  now  took  the  field  against 
the  infant  Reformation,  Hochstraaten,  who  had 
already  clamored  for  the  blood  of  Reuchlin,  who 
subsequently  declaimed  with  equal  violence  against 
Erasmus,  and  who  now,  in  the  true  spirit  of  Ins 
order,  told  the  pope  that,  in  his  opinion,  it  would 
be  best  to  convince  Luther  by  chains  and  fire.t 

But  poor  Hochstraaten  was  obliged,  in  this 
case,  to  postpone  his  auto  dafe. 

Luther  condescended  to  employ  against  this 
bigoted  inquisitor  but  few  words ;  these,  however, 
were  daggers :  "  Go,"  he  said,  "  go,  thou  raving 
murderer,  who  criest  for  the  blood  of  thy  brethren ; 
it  is  my  earnest  desire  that  thou  forbear  to  call 
me  Christian  and  faithful,  and  that  thou  continue, 
on  the  contrary,  to  decry  me  as  a  heretic.  Under- 
standest  thou  these  things,  thou  bloodthirsty  man, 
enemy  of  truth  ?  And  if  thy  mad  rage  should  hurry 
thee  to  undertake  any  thing  against  me,  take  care 
to  act  with  circumspection,  and  to  choose  thy  time 
well:  God  knows  what  my  purpose  is,  if  he  grant 
me  life.  My  hope  and  my  expectation,  God  will- 
ing, will  not  deceive  me.":j: 

This  broadside  from  Luther  appears^  to  have 
cowed   the   inquisitorial   temper  of  Hochstraaten, 

*  D'Aubigue,  Erasmiis'  Ei^is.  f  Michelet,  p.  31,  note. 

X  L.  0pp.,  (Lcipsic,)  XVII.,  p.  UO. 


190  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

for   the  fierce  D-ominican  relapsed  into  nubroken 
silence. 
^  The  next   attack   upon   Lnther  came  from  an 

unexpected  quarter,  and  deepl}^  grieved  him. 

Dr.  Eck,  of  the  Ingolstadt  university,  a  recent 
and  warm  friend  of  the  Wittemberg  professor,  but 
as  enthusiastic  an  admirer  and  advocate  of  the 
scholastic  theology  as  Luther  was  of  the  evangeli- 
cal, feeling  that  those  haughty  tenets  which  had 
domineered  over  Europe  unquestioned  for  so  many 
centuries,  were  fatally  assaulted  by  his  friend's 
theses,  threw  the  recollections  of  their  intiinacy  to 
the  winds,  and  published,  without  warning,  a  bitter 
personal  invective  which  he  intended  should  crush 
the  man  who  had  poured  out  upon  his  beloved 
schoolmen  the  floods  of  his  contempt,  and  which 
went  out  into  the  world  with  the  imprimatur  of  the 
schools.* 

This  was  the  most  formidable  assault  which 
Luther  had  as  yet  sustained. 

Eck  was  a  man  of  genius  and  of  erudition.  His 
book,  which  with  the  pedantry  peculiar  to  his  class 
he  styled  the  Obelishs,  was  written  in  an  eloquent, 
learned,  and  dogmatic  manner,  and  in  subtlety  far 
surpassed  the  writings  of  Tetzel,  Prierias,  and 
Hochstraaten. 

"  He  assumed,"  says  D'Aubigne,  "  a  tone  of 
compassion  towards  his  'feeble  adversary,'  being 
well  aware  that  pity  inflicts  more  harm  than  anger, 

"He  insinuated  that  Luther's  propositions  cir- 
*  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  I.,  p.  315. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  191 

cuLxted  the  Boliemiau  poison,  that  they  savored  of 
Bohemia ;  and  by  these  malicious  allusions  he  drew 
upon  Luther  the  unpopularity  and  hatred  attached 
in  Germany  to  the  name  of  Huss,  and  to  the  schis- 
matics of  his  country." 

After  reading  a  copy  of  this  work,  Luther  wrote 
a  letter  to  a  friend  in  which  he  thus  refers  to  it : 
"  In  the  ObelisJcs  I  am  styled  a  venomous  person,  a 
Bohemian,  a  heretic,  a  seditious,  insolent,  rash 
man,  I  pass  by  the  milder  insults,  such  as  drowsy- 
headed,  stupid,  ignorant,  contemner  of  the  sovereign 
pontiff,  and  others. 

"  This  book  is  brimful  of  the  blackest  outracres. 
Yet  he  who  penned  it  is  a  distinguished  man,  with 
a  spirit  full  of  learning,  and  a  learning  full  of  spirit ; 
and  what  causes  me  the  deepest  vexation,  he  is  a 
man  who  was  united  to  me  by  a  great  and  recently 
contracted  friendship :  it  is  John  Eck,  doctor  of 
divinity,  chancellor  of  Ingolstadt,  a  man  celebrated 
and  illustrious  by  his  writings. 

"  If  I  did  not  know  Satan's  thoughts,  I  should 
be  astonished  at  the  fury  which  has  led  this  man 
to  break  off  so  sweet  and  so  new  a  friendship,  and 
that  too  without  warning  me,  without  writing  to 
me,  without  saying  a  word."* 

We  append  D'Aubign6's  account  of  what  fol- 
lowed : 

"  Eck  was  sensible  of  how  disgraceful  his  con- 
duct had  been,  and  endeavored  to  vindicate  himself 
in  a  letter  to  Carlstadt.     In  it  he  styled  Luther 

•  Letter  to  Egranus,  pastor  at  Zwickau.    L.  Epp.,  I.,  100. 


192  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

their  '  common  friend,'  and  cast  all  the  blame  on 
the  bishop  of  Eichsfcadt,  at  whose  solicitation  he 
pretended  to  have  written  his  w^ork.  He  said  that 
it  had  not  been  his  intention  to  publish  the  Obelisks; 
that  he  would  have  felt  more  regard  to  the  bonds 
of  fiiendship  that  united  him  to  Luther;  and 
demanded,  in  conclusion,  that  Luther,  instead  of 
disputing  with  him,  should  turn  his  weapons  against 
the  Frankfort  divines. 

"  The  professor  of  Ingolstadt,  who  had  not 
feared  to  strike  the  first  blow,  began  to  be  alarmed 
when  he  reflected  on  the  strength  of  that  adversary 
whom  he  had  so  imprudently  attacked. 

"  Willingly  would  he  have  eluded  the  struggle ; 
but  it  was  too  late. 

"  All  these  fine  phrases  did  not  persuade  Luther, 
who  was  yet  inclined  to  remain  silent.  '  I  will 
swallow  patiently,'  said  he,  '  this  sop,  worthy  of 
Cerberus ;'  but  his  friends  differed  from  him  :  they 
solicited,  they  even  constrained  him  to  answer. 

"  He  therefore  replied  to  the  Obelisks  by  his  Aste- 
risks ;  opposing,  as  he  said,  playing  on  the  words, 
to  the  rust  and  livid  hue  of  the  Ingolstadt  doctor's 
Obelisks,  the  light  and  dazzhng  brightness  of  the 
stars  of  heaven. 

"  In  this  work  he  treated  his  adversary  with  less 
severity  than  he  had  shown  his  previous  antago- 
nists, but  his  indignation  pierced  through  his  words. 

"  He  showed  that  in  these  chaotic  Obelisks,  there 
was  nothing  from  the  holy  Scriptures,  nothing  from 
the  fathers  of  the  church,  nothing  from  the  ecclesi- 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  193 

astical  canons ;  that  tliey  were  filled  Avitli  scliolastic 
glosses,  opinions,  mere  opinions  and  empty  dreams ; 
in  a  word,  the  very  thing  that  Luther  had  attacked. 

"The  Asterishs  are  full  of  life  and  animation. 
The  author  is  indignant  at  the  errors  of  his  friend's 
book,  but  he  pities  the  man.  He  proposes  anew 
the  fundamental  principle  which  he  laid  down  in 
his  answer  to  Prierias :  '  The  supreme  pontiff  is  a 
man,  and  may  be  led  into  error ;  but  God  is  truth, 
and  cannot  err.' 

"  Further  on,  employing  the  argumentuin  ad  Jto- 
minem  against  the  scholastic  doctor,  he  says  to  him, 
'It  would  be  great  impudence  assuredly  for  any 
one  to  teach  in  the  philosophy  of  Ai'istotle  what  he 
cannot  prove  by  the  authority  of  that  ancient  au- 
thor. You  grant  it.  It  is,  a  fortiori,  the  most  im- 
pudent of  all  impudence  to  affirm  in  the  church 
and  among  Christians  what  Christ  himself  has  not 
taught. 

" '  Now  where  is  it  found  in  the  Bible  that  the 
treasure  of  Christ's  merits  is  in  the  hands  of  the 
pope?' 

"Ho  adds  further,  'As  for  the  malicious  re- 
proach of  Bohemian  heresy,  I  bear  this  calumny 
with  patience  through  love  of  Christ.  I  live  in  a 
celebrated  university,  in  a  well-famed  city,  in  a  re- 
spectable bishopric,  in  a  powerful  duchy  where  all 
are  orthodox,  and  where  undoubtedly  so  wicked  a 
heretic  would  not  be  tolerated.' 

"  Luther  did  not  publish  the  Asterishs  ;  he  com- 
municated them  solely  to  his  friends,  through  whom 


194  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

they  liad  as  wide  a  circulation  as  the  manuscript 
copies  of  Eck's  pamphlet. 

"  This  rupture  between  the  two  doctors  of  Ingol- 
stadt  and  Wittemberg  made  a  great  sensation  in 
Germany.  They  had  many  friends  in  common.  A 
person  named  Scheurl  especially,  who  appears  to 
have  been  the  man  by  whom  the  two  doctors  had 
been  connected,  was  alarmed.  He  was  one  of  those 
who  desired  to  see  a  thorough  reform  in  the  Ger- 
man church  by  means  of  its  most  distinguished 
organs.  But  if,  at  the  very  outset,  the  most  emi- 
nent theologians  of  the  day  should  fall  to  blows — 
if,  while  Luther  came  forward  with  novelties,  Eck 
became  the  representative  of  antiquity,  what  dis- 
ruption might  not  be  feared?  Would  not  numer- 
ous partisans  rally  round  each  of  these  chiefs?  and 
would  not  two  hostile  camps  be  formed  in  the  bo- 
som of  the  empire? 

"  Bcheurl  endeavored,  therefore,  to  reconcile  Eck 
and  Luther.  The  latter  declared  his  willingness  to 
forget  every  thing;  that  he  loved  the  genius,  that  he 
admired  the  learning  of  Dr.  Eck ;  and  that  what 
his  old  friend  had  done  had  caused  him  more  pain 
than  anger.  'I  am  ready,'  said  he  to  Scheurl, 
'  for  peace  and  for  war ;  but  I  prefer  peace.  Apply 
yourself  to  the  task ;  grieve  with  us  that  the  devil 
has  thrown  among  us  this  beginning  of  discord,  and 
afterwards  rejoice  that  Christ  in  his  mercy  has 
crushed  it.' 

■'  About  the  same  time  he  wrote  Eck  a  letter  full 
of  affection  ;  but  Eck  made  no  reply ;  he  did  not 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  195 

even  send  liim  any  message.  It  was  uo  longer  a 
season  for  reconciliation.  The  contest  daily  grew 
warmer,  and  Eck's  pride  and  implacable  spirit  soon 
broke  entirely  tlie  last  ties  of  that  friendship  which 
every  day  grew  weaker."'^ 

In  the  meantime  Luther,  in  addition  to  the 
severe  labor  necessitated  by  his  controversial  writ- 
ings, attended  conscientiously  to  the  minutest  duties 
of  his  professorship  and  of  his  parish,  lecturing 
daily  to  the  students,  and  preaching  regularly  on 
the  Sabbath.  Besides  all  this,  he  employed  his  pen 
in  the  production  of  a  number  of  popular  works  for 
the  instruction  and  edification  of  the  people. 

It  is  one  of  the  highest  glories  of  Martin  Luther, 
that  he,  first  since  apostolic  days,  recognised  the 
inestimable  value  of  the  humblest  human  soul.  He 
saw  instinctively  that  it  was  upon  the  common  jjeojjie, 
upon  the  average  common-sense  and  conscience  of 
the  masses,  that  the  Reformation  must  rely  for 
its  success.  If  he  was  not  actively  opposed  by 
those  haughty  men  who  masqueraded  in  the  garb 
of  authority,  civil  and  ecclesiastical,  his  tenets  at 
best  received  but  their  cold  acquiescence.  It  was 
the  people  who  saluted  his  teachings  with  enthu- 
siasm. He  thus  early  learned  to  ally  himself  with 
them.  Himself  one  of  them,  he  knew  their  wants 
and  their  mainsprings  of  action.  Convinced  of  the 
essential  democracy  of  Christianity,  and  perceiving 
the  tendency  of  the  ecclesiasticism  of  his  age  to 
gravitate  towards  caste  and  privilege,  he  set  him- 

«  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  31G-318. 


196  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

self  earnestly  to  work  to  wrest  it  from  the  usurping 
hands  of  a  priestly  oligarchy,  and  to  j^opularize 
religion. 

To  this  end,  Luther  bent  his  faculties  to  the  ed- 
ucation of  the  people.  He  did  his  utmost,  person- 
ally and  through  his  friends,  to  diffuse,  by  means  of 
popular  books  level  to  the  comprehension  and 
adapted  to  the  wants  of  the  masses,  a  knowledge 
both  of  civil*  questions  and  religious  subjects;  dis- 
carding when  engaged  in  this  beneficent  work  the 
Latin  tongue,  the  only  medium  of  communication 
which  the  haughty  scholars  of  his  time  would  stoop 
to  use,  and  addressing  the  people  in  that  picturesque 
and  glowing  German  which  made  him  their  ideal 
teacher,,  and  which  laid  the  foundations  of  one  of 
the  most  complete  of  modern  languages.* 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  popes, 
emperors,  and  kings  rule  the  world.  Justice  and 
common-sense  govern,  in  the  end. 

Leo  X.,  Francis  I.,  and  the  emperor  Charles  Y. 
domineered  over  the  Christendom  of  the  sixteenth 
century ;  but  the  Christendom  of  the  nineteenth 
century  is  governed  by  the  type  of  Faust  and  by 
that  Bible  which  Luther  emancipated. 

It  was  then  for  the  instruction  of  the  masses 
that,  shortly  after  writing  the  AstcrisLs,  he  published 
his  Sermons  on  the  Ten  Commandments,  and  his  Ex- 
planations  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  for  simple  and  un- 
lettered Laymen. 

*  Grimm,  himseK  the  highest  authority  fis  to  German,  gives  the 
palm  of  superiority  for  richness  to  the  English  language. 


OF  MAKTIN  LUTHEK.  197 

In  the  introcluctiou  to  this  latter  work,  he  makes 
these  observations  upon  the  nature  of  prayer  : 

"  When  thou  prajest,  let  thy  words  be  few,  but 
thy  thoughts  and  affections  many,  and  above  all,  let 
them  be  profound.  The  less  thou  speakest  the 
better  thou  prayest.  Few  words  and  many  thoughts 
is  Christian ;  many  words  and  few  thoughts  is 
heathenish," 

This  passage  shows  how  far,  led  by  the  simple 
spirit  of  the  gospel,  Luther  had  wandered  from  the 
monkish  precepts  of  the  cloister,  and  from  the  for- 
mulas of  the  Eoman  church.  Were  not  incessant 
repetitions  of  the  credo,  and  the  muttering  of  for- 
mal prayers  expressly  inculcated  by  the  canons  of 
the  Koman  see  ?  Yet  here  Luther,  without  appearing 
to  be  aware  of  his  heresy,  warns  the  people  against 
this  system,  and  urges  them  to  use  "  few  words  and 
many  thoughts."  The  fact  probably  was,  that  the 
Saxon  monk  was  really  much  further  away  from 
Rome  at  this  time  than  even  he  himself  knew. 

Luther  still  further  says  of  prayer  : 

"  External  and  bodily  prayer  is  that  buzzing  of 
the  lips,  that  outward  babble  which  is  gone  through 
without  any  attention,  and  which  strikes  the  eyes 
and  ears  of  men  ;  but  prayer  in  spirit  and  in  truth 
is  the  inward  desire,  the  emotions,  the  sighs  which 
issue  from  the  depths  of  the  heart.  The  former  is 
the  praj^er  of  hypocrites,  and  of  all  those  who  tru§t 
in  themselves ;  the  latter  is  the  prayer  of  the  chil- 
dren of  God,  who  walk  in  his  fear."* 
*  0pp.  Leipsic,  VII.,  p.  1086. 


198  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

About  tins  time  Lutlier  preached  at  Wittemberg 
a  sermon  on  tlie  remission  of  sins,  wliicli  afterwards 
became  famous  on  account  of  its  evangelical  and 
antipapal  character. 

In  this  discourse  he  maintained  that  "  the  re- 
mission of  sins  is  in  the  power  neither  of  the  pope 
nor  of  the  priest,  nor  of  any  man ;  for  Christ  de- 
signed not  to  build  our  consolation,  our  salvation, 
on  the  word  or  on  the  work  of  man,  but  solely  on 
himself,  on  his  work  and  on  his  word.  Thy  rej^ent- 
ance  and  thy  works  may  deceive  thee,  biit  Christ 
thy  God  will  not  deceive  thee.  He  will  not  falter, 
and  the  devil  shall  not  overthrow  his  words. 

"A  pope  or  a  bishop  has  no  more  power  than  the 
lowliest  priest,  as  regards  remission  of  sins.  And 
even  were  there  no  priests,  each  Christian,  even  a 
woman  or  a  child,  can  do  the  same  things.  For  if 
a  simple  Christian  says  to  you,  '  God  pardons  sin 
in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ,'  and  you  receive  his 
word  with  a  firm  faith,  and  as  if  God  himself  were 
addressing  you,  you  are  absolved. 

"If  you  do  not  believe  you  are  forgiven,  you 
make  God  a  liar,  and  you  put  more  confidence  in 
your  own  vain  thoughts  than  in  God  and  his  word. 

"  Kepent,  do  all  the  works  in  thy  power ;  but  let 
the  faith  thou  hast  in  pardon  through  Jesus  Christ 
be  in  the  foremost  rank,  and  command  alone  on  the 
field  of  battle."* 

"  Thus  spoke  Luther  to  his  astonished  and  en- 
raptured hearers,"  says  an  eminent  historian.  "All 
*  L.  0pp.,  XVIL,  p.  1G2. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  199 

tlie  scaffolding  that  impudent  priests  liad  raised  to 
their  profit  between  God  and  the  soul  of  man  was 
thrown  down,  and  man  was  brought  face  to  face 
with  his  God.  The  word  of  forgiveness  descended 
pure  from  on  high,  without  passing  through  a  thou- 
sand corrupting  channels.  In  order  that  the  testi- 
mony of  God  should  be  eificacious,  it  was  no  longer 
necessary  for  men  to  set  their  delusive  seal  to  it. 
The  monopoly  of  the  sacerdotal  caste  was  abol- 
ished." 


200  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTEE  XVII. 

In  the  spring  of  1518,  a  general  chapter  of  the 
order  of  the  Augustines  was  hekl  at  Heidelberg, 
and  to  it  Luther,  as  one  of  the  foremost  scholars 
and  most  influential  members,  was  summoned. 

His  friends  at  the  outset  endeavored  to  dissuade 
him  from  undertaking  the  journey,  fearful  lest  some 
ill-treatment  should  await  him,  or  lest  he  fall  a  vic- 
tim to  the  machinations  of  his  monkish  foes.  And 
indeed  the  Dominicans,  taking  time  by  the  fore- 
lock, and  familiar  with  the  route  he  would  pursue, 
should  he  attend  the  gathering  at  Heidelberg,  had 
been  assiduously  at  work  for  some  time  endeavoring 
to  make  his  name  odious  in  those  towns  through 
which  he  was  to  pass. 

But  though  he  was  apprized  of  this,  when  was 
Martin  Luther  known  to  be  frightened  from  the 
performance  of  what  he  considered  a  duty  ? 

He  had  several  reasons  for  desiring  to  attend 
this  meeting  of  the  Augustines.  He  had  been  sum- 
moned by  his  superior  to  do  so,  and  therefore  mo- 
nastic obedience  impelled  him  to  go;  he  had  besides 
something  to  say,  and  he  was  eager  to  light  on  the 
heights  of  Heidelberg  that  reformatory  torch  which 
blazed  so  brightly  on  his  Saxon  plains. 

He  therefore  quieted  the  fears  of  his  friends  by 
reminding  them  that  in  God's  hand  he  was  as  safe 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  201 

at  Heidelberg  as  iu  tlio  cell  of  his  cloister  iu  the 
elector's  duchy;  and  on  tlie  13th  of  April,  in  com- 
pany with  a  guide  named  Urban,  he  calmly  set  out 
on  foot.         • 

Travelling  quietly,  and  for  the  most  part  unrec- 
ognized, the  great  reformer  trudged  on  through 
Weissenfels,  through  Erfurth,  where  two  brothers 
of  his  order  joined  him,  through  Judenback,  where 
they  chanced  to  meet  Pfeffinger,  the  elector's  chan- 
cellor, who  entertained  them  at  the  inn — to  which 
Luther  thus  pleasantly  refers  in  a  letter  to  Spalatin : 
"  I  had  the  pleasure  of  making  the  rich  lord  Pfeffin- 
ger a  few  groats  poorer,  at  Judenback ;  you  know 
I  like  on  every  opportunity  to  levy  contributions  on 
the-  rich  for  the  benefit  of  the  poor,  especially  if 
the  rich  are  my  friends  ;"'^  the  travellers  reached 
Coburg  tired  and  way-worn. 

He  was  desirous  of  taking  a  public  conveyance 
from  Coburg  on  to  "Wurtzburg,  but  finding  himself 
unable  to  procure  accommodations,  he  was  forced 
to  resume  his  staff  and  continue  his  journey  on 
foot. 

A  fortnight  after  Easter — he  liad  quitted  Wit- 
temberg  the  day  after  that  festival — he  reached 
Wurtzburg,  and  having  been  provided  with  letters 
to  various  nobles  and  prelates  on  his  route  by  the 
thoughtful  kindness  of  the  elector,  he  went  immedi- 
ately to  the  episcopal  palace  of  the  bishop  of  Bibra, 
to  whom  ho  had  a  note  of  introduction,  and  who 
received  him  with  the  utmost  cordiality. 
*  L.  Epp.  I.,  105. 
9* 


202  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

This  amiable  bishop  was  one  of  the  few  really 
pious  and  evangeHcal  prelates  of  the  Koman  church. 
He  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  the  emperor  and  by 
the  German  princes.  He  had  read  Luther's  theses 
with  pleasure  and  approval,  and  he  wrote  Fred- 
erick of  Saxony,  "Do  not  let  the  pious  Doctor  Mar- 
tin go,  for  they  do  him  wrong." 

As  might  be  expected,  the  bishop  of  Bibra  did 
every  thing  possible  to  render  the  stay  of  the  Wit- 
temberg  doctor  pleasant  and  profitable. 

Luther  had  also  the  happiness  of  meeting  at 
Wurtzburg  his  old  friend  Staupitz,  the  vicar-general, 
and  Lange,  whom  he  had  appointed  prior  at  Er- 
furth,  both  of  whom  were  journeying  to  the  rendez- 
vous at  Heidelberg. 

Luther  was  now  received  into  the  carriage  of 
his  friends,  and  they  travelled  on  together  towards 
Heidelberg,  reaching  that  quaint  old  town  on  the 
evening  of  the  21st  of  April. 

The  three  friends  immediately  repaired  to  the 
magnificent  castle  of  the  Count  Palatine  Wolfgang, 
Duke  of  Bavaria,  to  whom  the  Elector  of  Saxony 
had  given  them  letters,  and  who  received  them 
heartily,  showed  them  every  attention,  and  who  re- 
marked to  Luther  especially,  upon  reading  his  let- 
ter of  introduction,  "In  truth,  you  have  here  a  valu- 
able letter  of  credit."* 

Luther  wrote  afterwards,  "  We  were  very  happy, 
and  amused  each  other  with  agreeable  and  pleasant 
conversation;  eating  and  drinking,  examining  all 
«  L.  Epp.,  I.,  111. 


or  MARTIN  LUTHER.  203 

the  beauties  of  the  palatine  palace,  admiring  the 
ornaments,  arms,  cuirasses,  in  fine,  every  thing  re- 
markable contained  in  this  celebrated  and  truly 
regal  castle."* 

But  Luther  did  not  long  allow  himself  to  b*e  en- 
grossed by  the  fascinations  of  the  Heidelberg  castle. 
While  he  remained  domesticated  with  Wolfgang  he 
emj)loyed  his  leisure  hours  in  drawing  up  a  number 
of  theses,  or  "paradoxes,"  as  he  called  them,  which 
he  intended  to  present  for  the  consideration  of  the 
Augustiues  before  they  adjourned  the  chapter. 

In  the  outset  he  had  soHcited  the  use  of  the 
university  hall  for  the  disputation ;  but  some  objec- 
tion having  been  made,  it  was  finally  settled  that  it 
•should  take  place  in  the  Augustinian  monastery  of 
the  town. 

Accordingly,  on  the  26tli  of  April,  an  immense 
concourse  of  people  crowded  the  spacious  chapel 
of  the  Heidelberg  Augustiues,  drawn  together  by 
the  fame  of  Luther's  eloquence  and  innovating 
tenets. 

In  the  paradoxes  which  he  now  presented,  he 
opposed  the  prevailing  notions  concerning  justifica- 
tion, faith,  and  works ;  his  object  being  to  demon- 
strate the  doctrine  of  justification  before  God  by 
faith,  and  not  by  works  and  deserts. 

His  theses  were  very  ably  but  temperately  con- 
troverted by  five  learned  doctors ;  to  whose  objec- 
tions, however,  the  Saxon  monk  so  pointedly  re- 
plied, and  whom  ho  so  luminously  outreasoned, 
c  L.  Epp.,  I.,  111. 


204:  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

that  liis  auditory  was  melted  into  admiration  both 
of  his  genius  and  his  tenets.*  "  He  is  in  many  re- 
spects hke  Erasmus,"  said  some,  "but  surj)asses 
him  in  one  thing  :  he  openly  professes  what  Erasmus 
is  content  merely  to  insinuate,  "t 

Luther  acknowledges  having  himself  learned 
something  in  this  debate.  With  the  humility  of 
greatness  he  said,  "  I  belong  to  those  who  improve 
by  writing,  and  teaching  others,  and  not  to  those 
who,  from  being  nothing,  become  on  a  sudden  great 
and  learned  doctors." 

"  Never  had  an  assembly  listened  with  so  much 
attention  to  a  theological  discussion.  The  first 
words  of  the  reformer  had  aroused  their  minds. 
Questions  which  shortly  before  would  have  been 
treated  with  indifference,  were  now  full  of  interest. 
On  the  countenances  of  many  of  the  hearers,  a 
looker-on  might  have  seen  reflected  the  new  ideas 
which  the  bold  assertions  of  the  Saxon  doctor  had 
awakened  in  their  minds. 

"Three  young  men  in  particular  were  deej)ly 
moved.  One  of  them,  Martin  Bucer  by  name,  was 
a  Dominican,  twenty-seven  years  of  age,  who.,  not- 
withstanding the  prejudices  of  his  order,  appeared 
unwilling  to  lose  one  of  the  doctor's  words.  He 
was  born  in  a  small  town  of  Alsace,  and  had  entered 
a  convent  at  sixteen.  He  soon  displayed  such  ca- 
pacity that  the  most  enlightened  monks  entertained 

*  Seckendorf,  p.  29,  from  a  MS.  history  of  the  Palatine 
churches,  by  Altingius. 

\  Bucer,  iii  Sciiltct's  Annal.  Evang.  Rcuovat.,  p.  22. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  205 

the  higliest  expectations  of  liim ;  '  ho  will  one  clay 
be  the  ornament  of  our  order,'  said  tliej.  His 
superiors  had  sent  him  to  Heidelberg  to  study  phi- 
losophy, theology,  Greek,  and  Hebrew. 

"At  that  period  Erasmus  published  several  of 
his  works,  which  Bucer  read  with  avidity.  Soon 
appeared  the  earliest  writings  of  Luther.  The 
Alsacian  student  hastened  to  compare  the  reformer's 
doctrine  Avith  the  holy  Scripture.  Some  misgivings 
as  to  the  truth  of  the  popish  religion  arose  in  his 
mind.  It  was  thus  that  the  light  was  diffused  in 
those  days.  The  Elector  Palatine  took  particular 
notice  of  the  young  man.  His  strong  and  sonorous 
voice,  his  graceful  manners  and  eloquent  language, 
and  the  freedom  with  which  he  attacked  the  vices  of 
the  day,  made  him  a  distinguished  preacher. 

"  He  was  appointed  chaplain  in  the  court,  and 
was  fulfilling  his  functions  when  Luther's  journey 
to  Heidelberg  was  announced ;  what  joy  for  Bucer. 
No  one  repaired  with  greater  eagerness  to  the  hall 
of  the  Augustine  convent.  He  took  with  him  paper, 
pens,  and  ink,  intending  to  take  down  what  the 
doctor  said.  But  while  his  hand  was  swiftly  tracing 
Luther's  words,  the  finger  of  God  in  more  indelible 
characters  wrote  on  his  heart  the  great  truths  he 
had  heard.  The  first  gleams  of  the  doctrine  of 
grace  were  diffused  through  his  soul  during  this 
memorable  hour.  The  Dominican  was  gained  OA'er 
to  Christ. 

"  Not  far  from  Bucer  stood  John  Brentz,  or 
Brentius,  then  nineteen  years  of  age.     He  was  the 


200  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

son  of  a  magistrate  in  a  city  of  Suabia,  and  at 
thirteen  had  been  entered  as  student  at  Heidel- 
berg. None  manifested  greater  apphcation.  He 
rose  at  midnight  and  began  to  study.  This  habit 
became  so  confirmed,  that  during  his  whole  hfe  he 
could  not  sleep  after  that  hour.  In  later  years  he 
consecrated  these  tranquil  moments  to  meditation 
on  the  Scriptures. 

"  Brentz  was  one  of  the  first  to  perceive  the  new 
light  then  dawning  on  Germany.  He  welcomed  it 
with  a  heart  abounding  in  love.  He  eagerly  perused 
Luther's  works ;  but  what  was  his  delight  when  he 
could  hear  the  writer  himself  at  Heidelberg.  One 
of  the  doctor's  propositions  more  especially  startled 
the  youthful  scholar  ;  it  was  this  :  '  That  man  is 
not  justified  before  God  who  performs  many  works  ; 
but  he  who,  without  works,  has  much  faith  in  Jesus 
Christ.' 

"  A  pious  woman  of  Heilbrunn,  on  the  Neckar, 
wife  of  a  senator  of  that  town  named  Snepf,  had 
imitated  Hannah's  example,  and  consecrated  her 
first-born  son  to  the  Lord,  with  a  fervent  desire  to 
see  him  devote  himseK  to  the  study  of  theology. 

"  This  young  man,  who  was  born  in  1495,  made 
rapid  progress  in  learning ;  but  either  from  taste 
or  from  ambition,  or  in  compliance  with  his  father's 
wishes,  he  applied  himself  to  the  study  of  juris- 
prudence. The  mother  was  grieved  to  behold  her 
child,  her  Ehrhard,  pursuing  another  career  than 
that  to  which  she  had  consecrated  him ;  she  admon- 
ished him,  entreated  him,  prayed  him  continually  to 


or  MAETIN  LUTHER.  207 

remember  the  vow  that  she  had  made  on  the  day  of 
his  birth. 

"Overcome  at  last  by  his  mother's  perseverance, 
Ehrhard  Snepf  gave  way.  Ere  long  he  felt  such  a 
taste  for  his  new  studies,  that  nothing  in  the  world 
could  have  diverted  him  from  them. 

"  He  was  very  intimate  with  Bucer  and  Brentz, 
and  they  were  friends  until  death  ;  '  for,'  says  one 
of  their  biographers, '  friendships  based  on  the  love 
of  letters  and  of  virtue  never  fail.' 

"  He  was  present  with  his  two  friends  at  the 
Heidelberg  discussion.  The  paradoxes  and  courage 
of  the  Wittemberg  doctor  gave  him  a  new  impulse. 
Eejecting  the  vain  opinion  of  human  merits,  he  em- 
braced the  doctrines  of  the  free  justification  of  the 
sinner. 

"  The  next  day  Bucer  went  to  Luther.  '  I  had 
a  familiar  and  private  conversation  with  him,'  said 
Bucer, '  a  most  exquisite  repast,  not  of  dainties,  but 
of  truths  that  were  set  before  me.  To  whatever 
objections  I  made,  the  doctor  had  a  reply,  and  ex- 
plained every  thing  with  the  greatest  clearness.  Oh, 
would  to  God  that  I  had  time  to  writejiiore.' 

"  Luther's  heart  was  touched.  '  He  is  the  only 
brother  of  his  order,'  wrote  he  to  Spalatin,  '  who  is 
sincere  ;  he  is  a  young  man  of  great  promise.  He 
received  me  with  simplicity,  and  conversed  with  me 
very  earnestly.  He  is  worthy  of  our  confidence  and 
love.'  " 

Brentz,  Snepf,  and  many  others,  excited  by  the 
new  truths  that  began  to  dawn  upon   their  minds, 


208  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

also  yisited  Lutlier  ;  tliey  talked  and  conferred  with 
liim  ;  they  begged  for  explanations  on  wliat  they  did 
not  understand.  The  reformer  replied,  strength- 
ening his  arguments  by  the  word  of  God.  Each 
sentence  imparted  fresh  light  to  their  minds.  A  new 
world  was  opening  before  them. 

"  After  Luther's  departure,  these  noble-minded 
men  began  to  teach  at  Heidelberg.  They  felt  it 
their  duty  to  continue  what  the  man  of  God  had 
begun,  and  not  allow  the  flame  to  expire  which  he 
had  lighted  up.  The  scholars  will  speak  when  the 
teachers  are  silent.  Brentz,  although  still  so  young, 
explained  the  gospel  of  St.  Matthew,  at  first  in  his 
own  room,  and  afterwards,  when  the  chamber  be- 
came too  small,  in  the  theatre  of  philosophy. 

"  The  theologians,  envious  at  the  crowd  of  hear- 
ers this  young  man  drew  around  him,  became  irri- 
tated. Brentz  then  took  orders,  and  transferred  his 
lectures  to  the  '  college  of  the  canons  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.'  Thus  the  fire  already  kindled  in  Saxony 
glowed  in  Heidelberg.  The  centres  of  light  in- 
creased in  number.  This  period  has  been  denom- 
inated 'the  seed  time  of  the  palatinate.' 

"  But  it  was  not  the  palatinate  alone  that  reaped 
the  fruits  of  the  Heidelberg  disputation.  These 
courageous  friends  of  the  truth  soon  became  shin- 
ing lights  in  the  church.  They  all  attained  to  ex- 
alted stations,  and  took  part  in  many  of  the  debates 
which  the  Eeformation  occasioned. 

"  Strasburg  and  England,  a  little  later,  were  in- 
debted to  Bucer  for  a  purer  knowledge  of  the  truth. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  209 

Snepf  first  declared  it  at  Marburg,  tlien  at  Stutt- 
gard,  Tubingen,  and  Jena. 

"Brentz,  after  having  taught  at  Heidelberg, 
continued  his  labors  for  a  long  period  at  Tubingen, 
and  at  Halle  in  Suabia."" 

The  chapter  broke  up  immediately  upon  the 
conclusion  of  Luther's  debate,  and  Luther  quitted 
Heidelberg  delighted  with  his  reception,  with  the 
good  he  had  been  permitted  to  do  there,  and  greatly 
improved  in  health  and  spirits. 

Upon  his  departure,  the  Count  Palatine  gave  him 
a  letter  for  the  Elector,  in  which  he  expressed  to  that 
prince  his  high  admiration  for  the  genius  of  the  Saxon 
theologian,  and  said  that  "  Luther  had  shown  so 
much  skill  in  the  disputation,  as  greatly  to  contrib- 
ute to  the  renown  of  the  universit}^  of  Wittemberg." 

He  di^  not  return  to  Wittemberg  as  he  had 
quitted  it,  on  foot  and  unattended,  but  he  was  ac- 
companied from  city  to  city  on  his  homeward  route 
by  jubilant  brothers  of  his  order,  conveyed  from 
Erfurth  to  Eisleben — which  his  affection  led  him  to 
take  in  his  way,  which  he  had  not  visited  for  some 
time,  and  where  his  beloved  parents  still  resided — in 
the  convent  carriage,  and  from  Eisleben  home  by 
the  Augustines  of  his  native  city,  "  who,  proud  of  a 
doctor  who  had  shed  so  much  lustre  on,  their  order 
and  on  their  town,  provided  him  with  horses  at 
their  own  expense." 

Thus  gloriously  to  God  and  to  his  champion 
ended  the  tour  to  Heidelberg. 

*  D'AiiLignd,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  330-333. 


210  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTEE  XYIII. 

Although  tlie  report  of  Luther's  controversy 
had  speedily  spread  beyond  the  confines  of  Ger- 
many, overleaping  the  Khine  and  in  due  time 
reaching  Eome — although  the  Saxon  reformer  had 
already  met  and  vanquished  the  indulgence-mongers 
in  Tetzel,  a  representative  of  the  Yatican  in  Prierias, 
the  fanaticism  of  the  monks  in  Hochstraaten,  and 
the  schoolmen  in  Eck,  the  pontiff  himself  had  not 
yet  formally  spoken. 

There  are  several  different  versions  of  his  opinion 
of  Luther's  theses. 

Luther  himself  sa3^s,  "When  my  first  positions 
concerning  indulgences  were  brought  before  the 
pope,  he  said,  '  A  drunken  Dutchman  wi'ote  them ; 
when  he  hath  slept  out  his  fumes  and  is  sober 
again,  he  will  then  be  of  another  mind."^'" 

Milner  gives  this  account :  "  With  how  much 
indifference  and  contempt  Leo  X.  at  first  beheld 
the  ecclesiastical  disputes  in  Germany,  how  indolent 
was  the  disposition  of  this  pontiff,  and  how  im- 
provident he  showed  himself  in  defending  the 
papal  jurisdiction— all  this  appears  in  the  strongest 
light  from  the  absurd  and  careless  answer  which  he 
is  said  to  have  given  to  Sylvester  Prierias,  when 
that  zealous  and  learned  Dominican  showed  liim 

*  Table  Talk. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  211 

some  of  Lntlier's  heretical  writings  concerning  in- 
dulgences. '  Brother  Martin,'  said  he,  '  is  a  man  of 
very  fine  genius,  and  these  squabbles  are  the  mere 
effusions  of  monastic  envy.'  "* 

Michel6t  also  asserts  that  "  Leo,  in  the  first 
instance,  believed  that  the  affair  was  merely  a  pro- 
fessional squabble  between  the  rival  orders  of  the 
Augustines  and  the  Dominicans,  observing, '  Monkish 
jealousies ;  nothing  more,'  and  eulogizing  Luther's 
scholarship  and  acumen."t 

Whatever  the  pope's  real  sentiments  may  have 
been,  it  is  certain  that  the  Wittemberg  doctor  at 
the  outset  thought  highl}^  of  Leo's  virtue  and  ability. 
In  defending  those  very  theses  which  had  caused 
the  whole  disturbance,  he  had  mentioned  him  in 
this  honorable  manner : 

"  The  times  in  which  we  live  are  so  evil,  that 
even  the  most  exalted  individuals  have  no  power 
to  help  the  church.  We  have  at  present  a  very 
good  pope  in  Leo  X.  His  sincerity,  his  learning, 
inspire  us  with  joy.  But  what  can  be  done  by  this 
one  man,  amiable  and  gracious  as  he  is?  He  is 
worthy  of  being  pope  in  better  days.  In  our  age 
we  deserve  none  but  such  men  as  Julius  II.  and 
Alexander  YL":|: 

Eventually  he  had  occasion  to  modify  this  esti- 
mate of  the  integrity  of  the  Florentine  Medici. 

Luther,  as  we  have  seen,§  had  been  dissatisfied 

o  Milucr's  Ch.  Hist,  Vol.  II.,  p.  22y. 

t  Miclielet's  Life  of  Luther,  j).  33. 

t  L.  Opp.  XVL  §  Chap.  Xin.,  p.  151. 


212  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

with  some  portions  of  liis  theses,  and  at  the  best 
he  esteemed  them  but  fragmentary. 

Therefore,  shortly  after  his  return  from  Heidel- 
berg, he  determined  to  supply  their  deficiencies  and 
to  explain  their  meaning  more  clearly  by  a  supple- 
mentary writing. 

With  this  object  he  now  jpublished  his  pamphlet 
entitled,  "  Eesolutions  and  Answers."  "  You  will  see," 
he  wrote  to  a  friend,  "my  Resolutiones  et  Hesponsiones. 
Perhaps,  in  certain  passages,  you  will  find  them 
more  free  than  was  absolutely  necessary;  if  they 
seem  so  to  you,  they  will,  d  fortiori,  aj^pear  j^erfectly 
intolerable  to  the  flatterers  of  Home.  Still,  upon  the 
whole,  I  esteem  them  moderate  and  reasonable."''^ 

In  this  work,  as  always  before,  he  grounds  him- 
self upon  the  rock  of  Christ. 

"  I  care  nothing,"  he  says,  "  for  what  pleases  or 
displeases  the  pope.  He  is  a  man,  like  other  men. 
There  have  been  many  popes  who  loved  not  only 
errors  and  vices,  but  still  more  extraordinary  things. 
I  listen  to  the  pope  as  pope,  that  is  to  say,  when 
he  speaks  in  the  canons,  according  to  the  canons, 
or  when  he  decrees  some  article  in  conjunction  with 
a  council;  but  not  when  he  speaks  after  his  own 
ideas.  Were  I  to  do  otherwise,  ought  I  not  to  say 
with  those  who  know  not  Christ,  that  the  horrible 
massacres  of  Christians  by  which  Julius  II.  was 
stained,  were  the  good  deeds  of  a  gentle  shepherd 
towards  Christ's  flock  ?"t 

*  liesolutiones  et  Besponsiones.     Eemarks  on  ThesLs  26. 
t  Ibid. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEB.  213 

Luther  continues  :  "  It  is  impossible  for  a  man 
to  be  a  Christian  without  having  Christ ;  and  if  he 
has  Christ,  he  possesses  at  the  same  time  all  that 
belongs  to  Christ.  What  gives  peace  to  our  con- 
sciences is  this :  by  faith  our  sins  are  no  longer 
ours,  but  Christ's,  on  whom  God  has  laid  them  all ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  all  Christ's  righteousness 
belongs  to  us,  to  whom  God  has  given  it.  Christ 
lays  his  hand  on  us,  and  Ave  are  healed ;  he  casts 
his  mantle  over  us,  and  we  are  sheltered ;  for  he  is 
the  glorious  Saviour,  blessed  for  e  verm  ore.  "■^'' 

He  remarks,  "  I  cannot  help  wondering  at  the 
simplicity  of  those  who  have  asserted  that  the  two 
swords  of  the  gospel  represent,  one  the  spiritual,  the 
other  the  secular  power.  Yes,  the  pope  wields  a 
sword  of  iron ;  it  is  thus  that  he  exhibits  himself  to 
Christendom,  not  as  a  tender  father,  but  as  a  for- 
midable tyrant.  Alas,  an  angry  God  has  given  us 
the  sword  we  longed  for,  and  taken  away  all  that 
which  we  despised.  In  no  part  of  the  world  have 
there  been  more  terrible  wars  than  among  Chris- 
tians. Why  did  not  that  acute  mind  which  discov- 
ered this  fine  commentary,  interpret  in  the  same 
subtle  manner  the  history  of  the  two  keys  intrusted 
to  St.  Peter,  and  lay  it  down  as  a  doctrine  of  the 
church,  that  one  key  serves  to  open  the  treasures  of 
heaven,  the  other  the  treasures  of  the  earth."t 

This  pamphlet,  like  all  its  predecessors,  had  a 
wide  circulation,  and  provoked  malevolent  replies 
from  the  papal  theologians.  The  doctrine  that 
o  Remarks  on  Thesis  37.  f  Ibid.  80. 


214  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Lutlier  was  uot  only  an  obstinate  heretic,  but  the  ene- 
my of  all  religion  whatever,  was  assiduously  taught. 

On  the  eve  of  Pentecost,  May  22,  1518,  Luther 
wrote  this  letter  to  Jerome,  Bishop  of  Brandenberg, 
his  ordinary: 

"Most  woethy  Father  in  God — It  is  now  some 
time  since  a  new  and  unheard-of  doctrine,  touching 
the  apostolic  indulgences,  began  to  make  a  noise  in 
this  country ;  the  learned  and  the  ignorant  were 
troubled  by  it;  and  many  persons,  some  known, 
some  personally  unknown  to  me,  begged  me  to  de- 
clare, by  sermon  or  by  writing,  what  I  thought  of 
the  novelty,  I  will  not  say  the  impudence,  of  this 
doctrine.  At  first  I  was  silent,  and  kept  in  the 
background.  But  at  last  things  came  to  such  a 
pass,  that  the  pope's  holiness  was  compromised. 

"What  could  I  do?  I  thought  it  my  duty 
neither  to  approve  nor  condemn  these  doctrines, 
but  to  originate  a  discussion  on  this  important  sub- 
ject, until  the  holy  church  should  decide. 

"As  no  one  accepted  the  challenge  I  had  given 
to  the  whole  world,  and  since  my  theses  have  been 
considered,  not  as  a  matter  for  discussion,  but  as 
positive  assertions,  I  find  myself  comj)elled  to  pub- 
hsh  an  explanation  of  them. 

"  Condescend  therefore  to  receive  these  trifles 
which  I  present  to  you,  most  merciful  bishop.  And 
that  all  the  world  may  see  that  I  do  not  act  pre- 
sumptuously, I  entreat  your  reverence  to  take  pen 
and  ink  and  blot  out,  or  even  throw  into  the  fire 
and  burn,  any  thing  that"  may  offend  you. 


OF  MAKTIN  LUTHEE.  215 

"I  know  that  Jesus  Christ  needs  neither  my  ser- 
vices nor  my  hi^bors,  and  that  he  will  know  how  to 
proclaim  his  glad  tidings  to  the  church  without  my 
aid. 

"  Not  that  the  bulls  and  threats  of  my  enemies 
alarm  me  ;  quite  the  contrary.  If  they  were  not  so 
impudent,  so  shameless,  none  should  hear  me  ;  I 
would  hide  myself  in  a  corner,  and  there  study 
alone  for  my  own  good. 

"  If  this  affair  is  not  God's,  it  shall  certainly  no 
longer  be  mine,  nor  any  man's,  but  a  thing  of  naught. 
Let  the  honor  and  the  glory  be  his,  to  whom  alone 
they  belong."'" 

This  letter  brought  the  new  pamphlet  to  the 
attention  of  the  bishop  of  the  Wittemberg  diocese. 
It  had  already  been  published  to  the  world. 

But  while  Luther  presented  his  explanations  to 
his  bishop  and  to  the  impartial  readers  of  Christen- 
dom with  one  hand,  ho  hastened  with  the  other  to 
lay  them  at  the  foot  of  the  pontifical  throne. 

He  appealed  from  Festus  to  Csesar.  And  here, 
for  the  first  time  in  this  historj^  Leo  X.  makes  his 
personal  appearance. 

Luther's  missive  to  the  pope,  dated  May  30th, 
1518,  was  couched  in  this  submissive  and  reveren- 
tial, but  earnest  language : 

"To  THE  MOST  HOLY  FaTHEK  LeO  X.,  MaeTIN 
LuTHEE,  OP  THE  AUGUSTINE  OEDEE  OF  MONKS  AT 
WlTTEMBEEG,  WISHES  ETEENAL  SALVATION : 

"  I  am  informed,  most  holy  father,  that  malicious 
*L.  Epp.,  I.,  114. 


216  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

reports  are  in  cii'culation  which  seek,  and  are  espe- 
cially designed  to  bring  my  name  into  bad  odor 
with  your  holiness.  I  am  called  a  heretic,  apos- 
tate, traitor,  and  a  thousand  other  insulting  names. 
What  I  see  fills  me  with  surprise;  what  I  hear  fills 
me  with  alarm. 

"  One  testimony  to  my  uprightness  of  intention 
is  with  me,  however,  a  good  and  quiet  conscience. 
Deign  to  listen  to  me,  father — to  me,  who  am  but  a 
child  and  unlearned. 

"At  the  time  that  the  jubilee  of  the  apostolic 
indulgences  was  announced,  certain  persons,  under 
sanction  of  your  authority,  imagining  that  they 
might  say  and  do  what  they  pleased,  publicly  taught 
the  most  blasphemous  heresies,  to  the  serious  scan- 
dal and  contempt  of  the  church,  as  if  the  decretals 
contained  nothing  in  them  condemning  the  imposi- 
tions of  these  extortioners. 

"  Not  content  with  the  unwarrantable  language 
which  they  used  in  propagating  their  poison,  they 
moreover  published  little  pamphlets — proving  that 
I  say  nothing  unjust  of  the  insatiable  and  monstrous 
imposition  of  their  conduct — in  which  they  main- 
tained these  same  blasphemous  and  heretical  doc- 
trines ;  and  so  determinedly,  that  they  bound  them- 
selves by  oath  to  inculcate  them  fixedly  on  the  peo- 
ple. 

"  If  these  men  deny  the  facts  of  which  I  speak, 
their  pamphlets  are  in  existence  to  prove  their  con- 
duct to  have  been  what  I  say.  They  carried  on 
this  trajffic  prosperously,  and  the  poor  people  were 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  217 

thoroughly  deceived  by  false  hopes ;  as  the  prophet 
says,  tltc  very  flesh  was  taken  from  their  hones,  the 
imjDOstors  themselves  living  meantime  iu  luxury  and 
gluttony. 

"  The  argument  oftenest  advanced  in  support  of 
their  foul  work  was,  the  authority  of  your  name, 
threatening  summary  punishment  upon  all  who  dif- 
fered with  them,  and  branding  these  dissenters  as 
heretics.  The  language  they  used  was  indescriba- 
1  )le ;  nor  shall  I  say  how  fiercely  they  resented  op- 
position, and  even  the  merest  doubt  respecting  the 
legitimacy  of  their  work.  If  this  mode  of  propa- 
gating error  be  sanctioned,  schisms  and  seditions 
cannot  fail  to  appear. 

"  Soon  stories  got  abroad.  In  all  the  taverns, 
nothing  was  heard  but  complaints  of  the  avarice  of 
the  priests,  and  attacks  against  the  power  of  the 
keys,  and  cavilling  doubts  respecting  your  own 
jiower. 

"  Of  this,  Germany  at  large  is  the  sufficient  wit- 
ness. 

"  When  I  was  informed  of  these  things,  my  zeal 
was  aroused  for  the  glory  of  Christ,  as  it  appeared 
to  me;  my  warm  young  blood  burned  with  indig- 
nation at  the  scandalous  chicaneries  of  these  indul- 
gence-hawkers. I  privately  intimated  to  neighbor- 
ing and  powerful  prelates  what  mischief  was  afoot. 
Some  of  these  treated  me  with  utter  silence,  others 
wrote  slightingl}',  the  influence  and  dread  of  your 
alleged  authorit}^  prevailing  with  them,  and  causing 
them  to  acquiesce. 

Luther.  10 


218  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

"At  last,  finding  liumble  remonstrance  of  no 
avail,  I  resolved  to  challenge  these  impious  traffick- 
ers to  prove  their  dogmas  in  disputation  with  me. 
I  published  a  list  of  propositions,  inviting  only  the 
doctors,  if  they  were  so  disposed,  to  discuss:  and 
this  is  shown  by  the  preamble  to  my  theses. 

"  This  is  why  they  rage  so,  being  furious  that  1, 
only  a  master  in  theology,  should  throw  myself 
across  the  path  of  their  extortions.  They  deny  my 
right  to  discuss  their  proceedings,  though  such  dis- 
cussion is  after  the  custom  of  all  the  universities, 
and  of  the  whole  church,  not  only  concerning  indul- 
gences, but  also  touching  other  important  matters. 

"  Now,  though  certainly  I  resent  the  impudence 
of  this  denial  of  my  right  to  discuss,  a  privilege 
conceded  by  your  holy  license,  'tis  with  reluctance 
that  I  took  up  the  controversy  with  them ;  but  when 
I  did,  I  was  forced  to  declare  that  they  mix  up  the 
heathen  dreams  of  Aristotle  with  the  sober  truth  of 
Christian  theology,  and  that  they  set  forth  silly 
human  conceits,  the  babble  of  deluded  schoolmen, 
concerning  the  divine  majesty,  instead  of  founding 
their  doctrines  on  the  word  of  God  and  the  canons 
of  the  church. 

"Behold  then,  most  holy  father,  how  heretical 
a  matter  it  is  which  has  produced  this  wide-spread 
conflagTation  which  wraps  the  world  in  fire. 

" Now  what  shall  I  do  ?  I  cannot  retract;  I  am 
powerless,  even  had  I  the  wish,  to  annul  the  fixed 
past ;  yet  I  perceive  a  determined  hatred  bursting 
forth  against  me.     I  am  publicly  discussed,  accord- 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  219 

ing  to  the  various  views  entertained  of  my  actions. 
Some  persons  esteem  me  an  ignorant,  stupid,  and 
paltry  imitator ;  and  these  geese  I  am  obliged  to 
answer  in  their  own  gabble.  Others  again  overrate 
my  strength  and  talents. 

"  I  have  no  wish  to  appear  before  the  world,  for 
I  have  no  learning,  no  genius,  and  am  far  too  little 
for  such  great  matters;  above  all,  in  this  illustrious 
age,  which  in  science  and  the  arts  eclipses  that  of 
Cicero. 

"  But  that  I  may  mitigate  the  anger  of  honest 
enemies,  and  satisfy  all  doubts,  I  hereby,  most  holy 
father,  send  my  published  writings  to  you,  that  I 
may  repose  in  safety  under  the  shelter  of  your  wings. 
All  who  wish  to  do  so  will  thus  understand  with  Avhat 
simplicity  of  heart  I  have  called  upon  ecclesiastic.nl 
authority  to  instruct  me,  and  what  respect  I  liave 
shown  to  the  power  of  the  keys. 

"  Were  I  what  they  call  me,  it  is  not  probable 
that  the  illustrious  prince  Frederick,  duke  of  Sax- 
ony, elector  of  the  empire,  a  prince  firmly  attached 
to  the  Catholic  and  apostolic  truth,  would  tolerate 
such  a  pest  in  his  own  university ;  nor  should  -I  have 
the  ardent  support  of  our  own  learned  and  virtuous 
body. 

"I  put  forward  these  things  in  my  own  favor, 
because  I  know  that  they  will  be  carefully  sup- 
pressed by  those  who  seek  to  imbitter  you  against 
me. 

"Wherefore,  holy  father,  I  prostrate  myself  at 
the  feet  of  your  clemency,  with  all  I  have  and  am. 


220  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Bid  me  live,  or  slay  me;  destroy  my  cause,  or  es- 
pouse it;  I  sliall  acknowledge  your  voice  as  the 
voice  of  Jesus  Christ,  who  presides  in  and  speaks 
through  you. 

"  If  I  am  worthy  of  death,  I  shall  not  refuse  to 
die ;  for  '  the  earth  is  the  Lord's,  and  the  fulness 
thereof,'  who  is  blessed  for  evermore.  Amen. 
May  he  preserve  you  to  all  eternity. 

"MAETIN  LUTHEE,  Augustine  Friar, 
"Ti-inity  Sunday,  1518." 

So  ran  Luther's  famous  letter  to  the  pope.  Ac- 
companying it  were  the  original  theses,  occupying 
seventy-two  folio  pages,"  his  recent  work  in  eluci- 
dation of  them,  and  the  following  protest : 

"Peotest  of  the  keverend  fathee,  Maetin  Lu- 
ther, OF  the  Augustine  oeder,  at  Wittembeeg. 

"  Because  this  is  a  theological  discussion,  touch- 
ing which  some  individuals  inchned  to  peace  may 
perad venture  take  offence  by  reason  of  the  recon- 
dite nature  of  the  subject,  I  protest : 

"  First,  that  I  never  held  or  taught  any  thing 
which  is  not  contained  in  the  holy  Scriptures,  in  the 
writings  of  the  fathers  of  the  church,  and  which 
has  not  received  the  acknowledgment  of  the  Bo- 
man  see,  in  its  canons  and  pontifical  decretals.  Yet 
if  any  opinion  of  mine  cannot  be  refuted  or  proved 
by  these  authorities,  I  shall  hold  it  for  the  sake 
of  discussion  only,  for  the  exercise  of  reason,  and 
for  the  promotion  of  knowledge  and  inquiry,  al- 
*  Michelet,  p.  37. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  221 

ways  having  respect  to  tlie  judgment  of  my  supe- 
riors. 

"  Further,  I  venture  to  challenge,  by  the  law  of 
Christian  liberty,  what  were  the  aclvnowledged  opin- 
ions of  St.  Thomas,  Buonaventure,  and  the  other 
casuists  and  schoolmen,  without  any  gloss  or  inter- 
pretation. 

"  I  am  resolved  to  refute  or  to  admit,  as  circum- 
stances may  render  necessary,  according  to  the  ad- 
vice of  St.  Paul :  '  Prove  all  things ;  hold  fast  that 
which  is  good.'  I  know  the  opinion  of  certain 
Thomists,*  that  St.  Thomas  should  be  approved 
in  all  things  from  the  church ;  but  St.  Thomas, 
at  all  events,  is  sufficiently  acknowledged  for  an 
authority.  I  have  recited  those  things  in  which  I 
may  err ;  but  I  am  no  heretic,  though  my  enemies 
roar  and  rage  in  their  vociferations  that  I  am  so." 

Having  thus  completed  his  packet  for  the  pope, 
Luther  that  same  evening  indited  this  letter  to  Stau- 
pitz,  through  whose  instrumentality  he  meant  that 
his  missive  to  Leo  should  be  forwarded  to  the  Vat- 
ican.. 

"I  remember,  reverend  father,  among  the  many 
most  delightful  and  pleasing  conversations  with 
which,  through  the  gi'ace  of  our  Lord,  I  was  often 
edified  by  you,  to  have  occasionally  heard  you  ob- 
serve respecting  the  doctrine  of  penitence,  as  con- 
nected with  indulgences ;  especially  referring  to 
those  who  are  troubled  in  conscience,  and  those 
pretenders  who  torture  them  with  innumerable  and 
*  Followers  of  Thomas  Aquinas. 


222  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

burdensome  advices  on  tlie  manner  of  confession ; 
and  we  hailed  tlie  sentiment  as  truly  in  accordance 
with  divine  authority,  that  that  is  true  penitence 
which  results  exclusively  from  a  sense  of  the  love 
and  justice  of  God — its  origin,  rather  than  its  end 
or  accomplishment. 

"  Your  observation  made  a  deep  impression  on 
my  mind,  as  though  I  had  been  pierced  by  the 
sharp  arrow  of  the  hunter,  and  I  began  to  consult 
the  Scripture  as  to  the  real  nature  of  repentance. 
The  declaration  rendered  this  occupation  in  many 
respects  most  pleasant  and  delightful  to  me,  and  I 
became  satisfactorily  convinced  that  whereas  for- 
merly there  was  no  term  in  the  Scriptures  at  which 
I  felt  more  uneasiness  than  that  of  penitence,  even 
when  I  would  have  attempted  diligently  to  please 
God,  and  to  exhibit  a  fixed  and  determined  love  to 
him,  now  there  was  none  which  yielded  me  greater 
pleasure  and  delight.  Thus  the  commandments 
of  God  became  enticing,  not  only  as  they  are  made 
known  to  us  in  his  holy  word,  but  as  we  see  them 
exemplified  in  the  obedient  sufferings  of  our  blessed 
Saviour. 

"  While  thus  meditating,  certain  individuals  be- 
gan to  tune  their  pipes,  and  to  give  us  some  strange 
music,  and  with  much  parade  they  sounded  their 
new  instruments  respecting  their  indulgences,  which 
drew  me  into  the  field  of  controversy.  In  short,  by 
neglecting,  or  preventing  the  true  doctrine  of  peni- 
tence, they  had  the  presumption  to  enhance,  not 
repentance,  not  even  its  most  worthless  part,  which 


or  MARTIN  LUTHER,  223 

is  called  satisfaction,  but  the  remission  of  that  to  me 
most  Avorthless  j)art,  as  it  never  had  been  previously 
held  and  estimated. 

"And  now  they  teach  these  impious,  false,  and 
heretical  tenets  with  such  boldness — I  had  almost 
said  insolence — that  he  who  presumes  to  express  an 
opinion  to  the  contrary,  however  diffidently,  is 
forthwith  branded  as  a  heretic,  as  one  who  should 
be  consigned  to  the  flames  of  hell  to  be  eternally 
punished. 

"  Unable  to  restrain  the  ravings  of  these  men,  I 
resolved  in  the  gentlest  possible  manner  to  dissent 
from  them,  to  call  in  question  mildly  their  head- 
strong and  impious  assertions,  trusting  to  the 
authority  of  all  learned  men  and  of  the  church,  and 
to  maintain  that  it  is  better  to  render  satisfaction 
for  sin  by  repentance,  than  that  the  satisfaction 
should  be  remitted  for  money,  namely,  by  the  pur- 
chase of  indulgences;  nor  has  any  doctor  ever 
taught  otherwise. 

"I  therefore  disputed  with  and  differed  from 
them,  and  because  I  did  so  I  provoked  their  utmost 
resentment  against  me,  ni}^  sole  offence  being  in  my 
interference  with  these  zealots  in  their  schemes  for 
obtaining  money  from  the  people.  And  these  men, 
so  practised  in  their  profitable  knavery,  when  they 
could  not  refute  me,  pretended  that  I  was  injuring 
the  authority  of  the  pope. 

"  This  is  the  reason,  reverend  father,  why  I  am 
now  talked  of  malignantly  in  public,  who  have 
always  been  a  lover  of  retirement,  choosing  rather 


224  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

to  attend  to  the  improvement  and  cultivation  of  the 
mind,  than  to  make  myself  at  all  an  object  of  public 
observation.  But  it  behooves  me  to  take  these 
things  patiently,  and  so  far  I  would  rather  be  the 
subject  of  their  slander  than  of  their  praise, 

"  I  request  therefore,  that  you  will  accept  these 
my  brief  explanations,  and  transmit  them  as  soon 
as  possible  to  the  holy  father  Leo  X.,  because  the 
representation  of  these  malignant  men  may  be  in- 
jurious to  me,  and  I  have  no  advocate  in  that  quar- 
ter. I  do  not  wish  you,  however,  to  be  brought  into 
trouble  on  my  account ;  I  desire  to  answer  for  my- 
self, and  to  bear  the  whole  responsibihty.  Our 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ  knows  whether  what  I  have 
advanced  be  of  myselff  or  agreeable  to  his  will, 
without  whose  approbation  the  sanction  of  the  j)ope 
is  of  httle  avail,  or  that  of  any  prmce  whom  he 
guides  and  commands. 

"  But  nevertheless  I  expect  a  decision  to  be  pro- 
nounced at  Rome.  To  the  threatenings  with  which 
I  am  assailed  I  have  httle  to  say,  except  with 
Reuchlin,  that  he  who  is  poor  has  nothing  to  fear, 
because  he  has  nothing  to  lose.  He  who  is  de- 
prived of  fame  and  rewards,  loses  what  I  neither 
possess  nor  desire.  One  unworthy  thing  remains, 
my  humble  body,  fatigued  by  cares  and  anxieties ; 
so  that  whatsoever,  Avitli  God's  permission,  they 
may  do  by  force  or  stratagem,  they  can  only  dej)rive 
me  of  a  few  hours  of  life.  'Tis  sufficient  for  me  to 
know  my  blessed  Lord  and  Saviour,  to  whom  I 
shall  sing  praises  as  long  as  I  Uve.     If  any  one  will 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  225 

not  sing  praises  with  me,  that  is  not  my  concern ; 
he  may  growl  by  himself,  if  he  chooses. 

"  May  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  preserve  yon,  my 
beJoved  father,  in  his  holy  keeping  for  ever. 

"MARTIN  LUTHEE,  Augustine  Friar." 

If  any  soul  is  stirred  to  marvel  at  the  humility 
of  Luther's  letters,  both  to  the  bishop  of  Branden- 
burg and  to  Leo.  X.,  it  may  be  well  to  cite  for  his 
instruction  the  Wittemberg  theologian's  mature 
declaration,  written  twenty-eight  years  after  the 
indulgence  controversy,  and  from  the  standpoint 
of  a  completed  Reformation  : 

"  Before  all  things  I  entreat  you,  pious  reader* 
for  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ's  sake,  to  read  my  writ- 
ings with  cool  consideration,  and  even  with  much 
pity.  I  Avish  you  to  know  that  when  I  began  the 
affair  of  the  indulgences  at  the  very  first,  I  was  a 
monk,  and  a  most  mad  papist.  I  was  a  complete 
Saul. 

"  There  were  however,  and  are  now,  others  who 
appear  to  me  to  adhere  to  the  pope  on  the  princi- 
ples of  Epicurus,  that  is,  for  the  sake  of  indulging 
their  appetites,  when  secretly  they  even  deride  him, 
and  are  as  cold  as  ice  when  called  upon  to  defend 
the  papacy.  I  was  never  one  of  these ;  I  was 
always  a  sincere  believer ;  I  was  always  earnest  in 
defending  the  doctrines  I  professed;  and  I  went 
seriously  to  work  as  one  who  had  a  horrible  dread 
of  the  day  of  judgment,  and  who,  from  his  inmost 
soul,  was  anxious  for  salvation. 

10* 


226  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

"You  will  find  therefore,  in  my  earlier  writ- 
ings, witli  liow  niucli  liumilitj,  on  many  occasions,  I 
gave  up  very  considerable  points  to  tlie  pope,  which 
I  now  detest  as  blasphemous  and  abominable  in 
the  highest  degree.  This  error  my  slanderers  call 
inconsistency  ;  but  you,  pious  reader,  will  have  the 
kindness  to  make  some  allowance  on  account  of 
the  times  and  my  inexperience.  I  stood  absolutely 
alone  at  first ;  and  certainly  I  was  very  unlearned 
and  unfit  to  undertake  matters  of  such  vast  impor- 
tance." 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  227 


CHAPTEE   XIX. 

While  Lutlier  quietly  and  hopefully  awaited  at 
Wittemberg  the  result  of  his  conciliatory  letters  to 
Jerome  of  Brandenburg  and  Leo  X.,  the  perj&dious 
Roman  see  was  already  busily  at  work  in  forging 
that  thunderbolt  with  which  it  meant  to  smite  the 
infant  Reformation. 

The  imprudence  of  the  pope  at  this  critical 
moment  seems  almost  the  consequence  of  judicial 
infatuation.  At  once  he  passed  from  the  careless- 
ness of  indifferent  neglect,  to  the  extreme  of  tyran- 
nical violence  and  blind  temerity. 

Leo  had  written  Staupitz  some  months  previous 
to  the  date  of  Luther's  missive  to  him,  urging  the 
vicar-general  to  use  his  utmost  efforts  to  conciliate 
the  Saxon  Augustine,  and  exhorting  him  to  reclaim 
his  erring  fi'iend  if  he  himself  hoped  for  salvation. 

But  the  treacherous  Medici  did  not  await  Stau- 
pitz's  report,  but  so  early  as  the  3d  of  April,  Car- 
dinal Raphael  of  Eovera  had  written  the  elector  of 
Saxony,  in  Leo's  name,  intimating  that  his  own 
orthodoxy  was  tainted  by  his  j)rotection  of  Luther's 
heresies.  ' 

"  The  cardinal,"  said  Luther,  "would  have  great 
pleasure  in  seeing  me  burned  by  Frederick."* 

Li  the  meantime  the  Samson  of  Eome  apparently 

*  L.  0pp.  (W.)  XV.,  339. 


228  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

overthrew  the  main  pillar  of  the  heretical  temple, 
and  men  looked,  to  see  the  whole  edifice  come  crash- 
ing to  the  ground.  The  elector  became  disaffected 
and  alarmed.  /(^lyvvA  A  ^^'''^     /  T  /  S 

^  An  imperial  diet  w'^as  at  this  time  being  held  at 

Augsburg.  Six  of  the  electors  of  the  empire  were 
in  attendance  upon  Maximilian,  and  the  princes  of 
half  the  European  states  were  represented  bj  am- 
bassadors ;  the  proxy  of  the  people  being  Cajetan. 

The  then  raging  Turkish  war  was  the  ostensible 
object  of  this  imperial  convention  ;  but  back  of  the 
Moslems  lay  other  matters  of  far  greater  impor- 
tance both  to  the  legate  of  the  pope  and  to  Maxi- 
mihan. 

The  emperor,  grown  old,  and  anxiously  planning 
for  the  aggrandizement  of  his  house,  desired  to  use 
the  diet  for  the  furtherance  of  these  views.  He 
had  already  gained  over  to  his  side  most  of  the 
electors,  when  he  met  from  Frederick  a  determined 
opposition,  Charles,  already  king  of  Spain  and 
Naples,  was  naturally  Maximilian's  choice  for  the 
imperial  succession ;  he  wished  now  to  have  him 
proclaimed  king  of  the  Romans.  Leo  just  as  natu- 
rally wished  to  balk  this  plan,  not  desiring  to  see  a 
prince  whose  power  in  Italy  might  be  dangerous  to 
his  own  authority,  and  whose  area  of  domain  was 
ah'eady  so  vast,  seated  on  the  imperial  throne,  and 
swaying  the  almost  irresistible  sceptre  of  the  Ger- 
man Csesars. 

Since  the  interests  of  Frederick  of  Sa-xony  and 
pope  Leo  were  in  this  identical,  it  was  natural  that 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  229 

they  sliould  now  draw  more  closely  togetlier,  and 
ally  their  fortunes. 

The  pernicious  diplomacy  of  Frederick  now  led 
him,  therefore,  to  conciliate  the  pontiff.  To  this 
end  he  wrote  Leo  from  Augsburg  on  the  5th  of 
August :  "  Most  holy  father,  we  have  learned  within 
these  few  days  that  a  friar  of  the  Augustine  order, 
named  Martin  Luther,  has  presumed  to  maintain 
certain  propositions  on  the  traffic  in  indulgences  ; 
a  matter  which  displeases  us  the  more  because  this 
fi'iar  has  found  many  protectors,  among  whom  are 
persons  of  exalted  station.  If  your  holiness,  and 
the  very  reverend  fathers  of  the  church  the  car- 
dinals, do  not  soon  exert  your  authority  to  put  an 
end  to  these  scandals,  these  j^ernicious  teachers  will 
not  only  seduce  the  simple  people,  but  they  will 
involve  great  princes  in  their  destruction.  We  will 
take  care  whatever  your  holiness  decrees  in  this 
matter  for  the  glory  of  God  Almighty,  shall  be  en- 
forced throughout  the  empire."* 

Affairs  becoming  still  more  threatening  at  the 
diet,  the  crafty  elector,  who  well  knew  what  sop  the 
Roman  Cerberus  would  most  relish,  wrote  Leo 
again,  several  days  later : 

"I  shall  never  have  any  other  desire  than  to  live 
in  submission  to  the  universal  church.  Accord- 
ingly I  have  never  defended  either  the  writings  or 
the  sermons  of  Doctor  Martin  Luther.  I  learn,  be- 
sides, that  he  has  always  offered  to  appear,  under  a 
safe  conduct,  before  impartial,  learned,  and  Chris- 

«  Eagnaia  ad  au,  1518. 


230  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

tian  judges,  in  order  to  defend  his  doctrine,  and  to 
submit,  in  case  he  should  be  convicted  of  error  by 
the  Scriptures  themselves."* 

The  pontiff,  with  this  declaration  of  sentiments 
from  Luther's  sovereign  before  him,  and  urged 
thereto  by  the  clamors  of  the  frantic  theologians  of 
the  Vatican,  now  nominated  an  ecclesiastical  com- 
mission at  Eome,  of  which  Sylvester  Prierias  was 
a  prominent  member,  and  cited  the  Augustinian  to 
appear  before  it  in  person  within  sixty  days. 

This  citation  was  received  by  Luther  at  Wit- 
temberg  on  the  7th  of  August,  and  greatly  aston- 
ished him.  "At  the  moment,"  said  he,  "Avhen  I 
was  expecting  a  blessing,  I  felt  the  thunderbolt  fall 
upon  me.  I  was  the  lamb  that  troubled  the  water 
the  wolf  was  drinking.  Tetzel  escaped,  and  I  was 
to  permit  myself  to  be  devoured." 

This  summons  to  Home  created  a  great  excite- 
ment among  the  devoted  adherents  of  the  reformer. 
Although  he  seemed  to  be  deserted  by  the  magnates 
of  Christendom,  an  enthusiastic  army  of  believers 
already  surrounded  the  resolute  chieftain  of  the  new 
regime,  and  these  imperatively  vetoed  his  personal 
appearance  before  this  mushroom  ex  parte  tribunal 
at  Rome. 

Accordingly,  on  the  day  following  his  reception 
of  the  summons,  the  8th  of  August,  Luther  wrote 
Spalatin,  exhorting  him  to  use  his  influence  with 
the  elector  to  have  his  cause  tried  in  Germany. 
Spalatin  consequently  immediately  wrote  Eenner. 
*  Lutter's  L.  0pp.,  XVII.,  169. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  231 

the  emperor's  secretary :  "  Doctor  Martin  Luther 
willingly  consents  to  be  judged  by  all  the  univer- 
sities in  the  empire,  except  Leipsic,  Erfurth,  and 
Frankfort-on-the-Oder,  which  have  shown  them- 
selves partial ;  it  is  impossible  for  him  to  appear  at 
Eome  in  person."* 

To  this  note  Spalatin  secured  the  elector's  sig- 
nature, thus  demonstrating  at  once  his  friendship 
for  Luther,  and  his  influence  with  Frederick. 

At  the  same  time  the  university  of  Wittemberg 
wrote  the  pope  a  letter  of  intercession. 

"  The  weakness  of  his  frame,"  so  runs  the  epistle, 
"  and  the  dangers  of  the  journey,  render  it  difiicult 
and  even  impossible  for  the  doctor  to  obey  your 
august  summons. 

"His  distress  and  his  prayers  incline  us  to  sym- 
pathize with  him.  We  therefore  entreat  you,  most 
holy  father,  as  obedient  children,  to  look  upon  him 
as  a  man  who  has  never  been  tainted  with  heretical 
tenets." 

On  the  same  day,  the  university  still  further  ex- 
hibited its  zeal  and  solicitude  by  writing  the  pope's 
chamberlain,  Charles  Miltitz,  a  Saxon  gentleman 
who  was  held  in  high  esteem  by  Leo  X.  :t 

"  The  reverend  father,  Martin  Luther,  is  the 
noblest  and  most  distinguished  member  of  our  uni- 
versity. For  many  years  we  have  known  his  talents, 
his  learning,  his  profound  acquaintance  with  the 
arts  and  literature,  his  irreproachable  morals,  and 
liis  truly  Christian  behavior ;  we  therefore  implore 

o  L,  Opp.,  (L.),  XVII.,  173.  t  D'Aubigne. 


232  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

you  to  use  jour  best  influence  with  the  sovereign 
pontiff  on  his  behalf."*  > 

The  emperor  Maximilian  was  already  inclined 
to  be  friendly  to  Luther,  provided  his  good  offices 
did  not  interfere  with  his  plans  of  statescraft.  He 
had  said  to  Pfeffinger,  the  elector's  counsellor,  on 
the  first  outbreak  of  this  theological  tempest, 
"  What  your  monk  is  doing  is  not  to  be  despised ; 
take  car€  of  him  ;  it  may  be  that  we  shall  have  need 
of  him."t 

Personally  Maximilian  entertained  no  very  ex- 
alted opinion  of  the  pontiff :  "  This  pope,"  said  he, 
speaking  of  Leo  X.,  "  has  acted  towards  me  Hke  a 
rogue.  I  can  fairly  say  that  I  have  never  found  in 
any  pope  I  have  met  with,  sincerity  or  good  faith  ; 
but  please  God,  I  hope   this  will  be  the  last  of 

them.":!: 

Entertaining  these  sentiments,  Penner,  upon 
the  presentation  of  the  elector's  letter  suggesting 
that  Luther  be  heard  in  Germany  instead  of  Pome, 
found  the  emperor  very  ready  to  do  his  utmost  to 
secure  a  compliance  with  this  request  on  the  part 
of  the  Poman  see. 

But  Leo,  who  had  been  informed  of  the  emper- 
or's menacing  expressions,  was  in  no  mood  to  be 
cajoled  by  Maximilian's  rhetoric. 

"While  men  were  anxiously  looking  for  the  re- 
sult of  this  affair,  it  was  terminated  more  easily 
than  might  have  been  expected.     The  legate  Caje- 

♦  L.  0pp.  Lat.  I,  183,  184.  f  Michelet,  p.  40. 

t  Michelet,  p.  41. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  233 

tan,  mortified  at  his  ill-success  in  tlie  commission 
lie  had  received  to  excite  a  general  war  against  the 
Turks,  wished  to  exalt  and  give  lustre  to  his  em- 
bassy by  some  other  brilliant  act.  He  thought  that 
if  he  could  extinguish  heresy,  he  should  return  to 
Rome  with  honor. 

"He  therefore  entreated  the  pope  to  entrust  this 
business  to  him,  Leo,  for  his  part,  was  highly 
pleased  with  Frederick  for  his  strong  opposition  to 
the  election  of  the  youthful  Charles.  He  felt  that 
he  might  yet  stand  in  need  of  his  support.  With- 
out further  reference  to  the  summons,  he  commis- 
sioned the  legate,  by  a  brief  dated  on  the  23d  of 
August,  to  investigate  the  affair  in  Germany.  The 
pope  lost  nothing  by  this  course  of  procedure  ;  and 
even  if  Luther  could  not  be  prevailed  on  to  retract, 
the  noise  and  scandal  that  his  presence  at  Rome 
must  have  occasioned  would  be  avoided."* 

"We  translate  Leo's  brief  of  instructions  to  Caje- 
tan : 

"  We  charge  you  to  summon  personally  before 
you,  to  prosecute  and  constrain  without  any  delay, 
and  as  soon  as  you  shall  have  received  this  paper 
from  us,  the  said  Luther,  who  has  already  been 
declared  a  heretic  by  our  dear  brother  Jerome, 
bishop  of  Ascoh. 

"  Invoke  for  this  purpose  the  arm  and  the  aid 
of  our  very  dear  son  in  Christ,  Maximilian,  and  of 
the  other  princes  of  Germany,  and  of  all  the  com- 
munities, universities,  and  potentates,  ecclesiastic 

'*  D'AubiL'ue. 


234  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

or  secular.  And  if  you  get  possession  of  liis  per- 
son, keep  him  in  safe  custody,  that  he  may  be 
brought  before  us. 

"  If  he  return  to  his  dut}',  and  beg  forgiveness 
for  so  great  a  misdeed,  of  his  own  accord,  and  with- 
out solicitation,  we  give  you  power  to  receive  him 
into  the  unity  of  our  holy  mother  the  church. 

"  If  he  persist  in  his  obstinacy,  and  you  cannot 
secure  his  person,  we  authorize  you  to  proscribe  him 
in  every  part  of  Germany;  to  banish,  curse,  and  ex- 
communicate all  those  who  are  attached  to  him,  and 
to  order  all  Christians  to  flee  from  their  presence. 

"  And  in  order  that  this  contagious  disease  may 
be  the  more  effectually  eradicated,  you  will  excom- 
municate all  prelates,  religious  orders,  universities, 
communities,  counts,  dukes,  and  potentates — the 
emperor  Maximilian  always  excepted — who  shall  not 
aid  in  seizing  the  aforesaid  Martin  Luther  and  his 
adherents,  and  send  them  to  joii  under  good  and 
safe  guard.  And  if,  which  God  forbid,  the  said 
princes,  communities,  universities,  and  potentates, 
or  any  belonging  to  them,  shall  in  any  manner  offer 
an  asylum  to  the  said  Martin  and  his  adherents,  or 
give  him,  privately  or  publicly,  by  themselves  or  by 
others,  succor  and  counsel,  we  laj^  under  interdict 
all  these  princes,  communities,  universities,  and  po- 
tentates, with  their  cities,  towns,  countries,  and  vil- 
lages, as  well  as  the  cities,  towns,  countries,  and 
villages  in  which  the  said  Martin  may  take  refuge, 
so  long  as  he  shall  remain  there,  and  three  days 
after  he  shall  have  quitted  them. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  235 

"As  for  the  laymen,  if  tliey  do  not  immediately 
obey  your  orders,  without  delay  or  opposition,  we 
declare  them  infamous — the  most  Avorthy  emperor 
always  excepted — incapable  of  pei'forming  any  law- 
ful act,  deprived  of  Christian  burial,  and  stripped 
of  all  the  fiefs  they  may  hold,  either  from  the  apos- 
tolic see  or  from  any  lord  whatsoever."* 

Upon  becoming  acquainted  with  the  nature  of 
this  amiable  brief,  Luther's  indignation  blazed 
fiercely.  "  The  pleasantest  thing  of  all,"  he  WTote, 
"is  this:  the  pope's  brief  is  dated  August  23d;  I 
was  cited,  and  admonished  on  the  2d  of  August  to 
appear  at  Eome  within  sixty  days.  Thus  it  is  very 
plain  that,  either  before  the  citation  was  delivered 
to  me,  or  at  most  within  sixteen  days  after,  the  bish- 
op of  Ascoli  proceeded  against  me,  judged  me,  and 
pronounced  me  an  incorrigible  heretic.  What  if  I 
should  ask,  what  are  become  of  the  sixty  days  men- 
^tioned  in  the  citation  delivered  to  me,  which  are  to 
be  reckoned  from  the  7tli  of  August,  and  would  end 
about  the  7tli  of  October?  Is  it  the  usage  of  the 
pope's  court  to  cite,  admonish,  accuse,  judge,  con- 
demn, and  pronounce  sentence  all  on  the  same  day, 
when  the  supposed  culprit  is  far  from  Eome,  and 
knows  nothing  of  these  things  ? 

"Again,  how  can  they  charge  me  with  having 
abused  the  pope's  kindness,  and  with  persevering 
obstinately  in  heresy  ?  Would  they  be  able  to  give 
any  other  answer  to  these  questions  than  that,  when 
they  fabricated  the  falsehoods  respecting  me,  they 
*  Van  Bruut,  Hist.  Eef. 


236  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

had  lost  their  memory,  and  stood  in  need  of  a  few 
doses  of  hellebore  ?"'^ 

Yet  notwithstanding  his  disgust  at  the  trickery 
of  the  E-oman  see,  Luther  determined  that  if  he 
received  Cajetan's  citation  he  would  personally 
answer  it,  if  the  legate  would  meet  him  anywhere 
within  the  limits  of  the  empire. 

*  Luther's  0pp.  (L.,)  XVH.,  17G. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  237 


CHAPTER  XX. 

.  At  this  critical  juncture  in  Luther's  life,  when 
he  so  greatly  needed  some  near  and  congenial  friend 
to  sympathize  with  him,  and  to  wrap  him  in  the 
mantle  of  wise  counsel,  God  sent  Philip  Melancthon 
to  Wittemberg,  thus  adding  the  St.  John  of  the  Ref- 
ormation to  the  St.  Peter. 

Philip  Schwartzerd  was  born  at  Bretten,  a  ham- 
let in  the  Palatinate,  on  the  14th  of  Februar}^,  1497. 
His  father  was  .a  celebrated  armorer,  possessed  of 
princely  virtues  if  not  of  princely  rank  ;*  while  his 
mother,  who  was  the  daughter  of  a  respectable 
magistrate  named  John  Renter,  was  a  woman  of 
large  charity,  discreet,  and  prudeut.f 

These  well-known  Gerjnan  lines  are  said  to  have 
been  original  with  her  : 

"  Alms-giving  impoverislietli  not ; 
Church-going  hindereth  not ; 
To  grease  the  car  delayeth  not ; 
Ill-gotten  wealth  profiteth  not ; 
God's  book  deceiveth  not." 

The  loving  pens  of  Melancthon's  German  biog- 
raphers have  carefully  gathered  up  and  commem- 
orated a  number  of  other  proverbial  rhymes  of 
similar  purport,  also  his  mother's  compositions. 
When  Philip  was  in  his  eleventh  year  his  father 
died.     Just  before  his  decease  he  called  his  son  to 

*  Gamer.  Vita  Phil.  Melancthon.  t  H^i^^- 


238  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

his  side,  and  taking  his  hand,  said,  "  My  hoy,  I  fore- 
see that  terrible  tempests  are  about  to  shake  the 
world.  I  have  witnessed  great  things,  but  greater 
ones  are  preparing.  May  God  direct  and  guide 
thee."* 

He  was  not  at  home  when  his  father  died,  his 
friends  having  sent  him  to  Sj)ires,  as  they  dreaded 
the  effect  upon  his  weak  frame  and  imaginative 
mind. 

"  Keturning  to  Bretten  shortly  after  his  father's 
death,"  says  D'Aubign6,  whose  profoundly  interest- 
ing account  of  Melancthon  we  now  quote,  "the  lad's 
grandfather,  the  Avorthy  bailiff  Renter,  who  himself 
had  a  son,  performed  a  father's  duty  to  Philip,  and 
took  him  and  his  brother  George  to  his  own  house. 
Shortly  after  this,  he  engaged  John  Hungarus  to 
teach  the  three  boys.  The  tutor  was  an  excellent 
man,  and  in  after  years  proclaimed  the  gospel  with 
great  energy  even  to  an  advanced  age.  He  over- 
looked nothing  in  the  young  man.  He  punished 
him  for  every  fault,  but  with  discretion.  'It  is 
thus,'  said  Melancthon  in  1554,  'that  he  made  a 
scholar  of  me.  He  loved  me  as  a  son,  and  I  loved 
him  as  a  father;  and  we  shall  meet,  I  hope,  in 
heaven.' 

"  PhiHp  was  remarkable  for  the  excellence  of  his 
understanding  and  his  facility  in  learning  and  ex- 
plaining what  he  had  learned;  he  could  not  remain 
idle,  and  was  always  looking  for  some  one  to  dis- 
cuss with  him  the  things  he  had  heard. 
*  Muller's  Keliquien. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  239 

"It  frequently  happened  that  well-educated  for- 
eigners passed  through  Bretten  and  visited  Renter. 
"Immediately  the  bailiff's  grandson  would  go  up  to 
them,  enter  into  conversation,  and  press  them  so 
hard  in  the  discussion  that  the  hearers  were  fill- 
ed with  admiration.  "With  strength  of  genius  he 
united  great  gentleness,  and  thus  won  the  favor  of 
all.  He  stammered,  but  like  the  illustrious  Grecian 
orator,  he  so  diligently  set  about  correcting  this 
defect,  that  in  after  life  no  trace  of  it  could  be  per- 
ceived. 

"  On  the  death  of  his  grandfather,  the  youthful 
Philip,  with  his  brother  and  his  uncle  John,  was 
sent  to  the  school  at  Pforzheim.  These  lads  re- 
sided with  one  of  their  relations — sister  to  the 
famous  Reuchlin.  Eager  in  the  pursuit  of  know- 
ledge, Philip,  under  the  tuition  of  George  Simmler, 
made  rapid  progress  in  learning,  and  particularly 
in  Greek,  of  which  he  was  passionately  fond. 

"Reuchlin  frequently  came  to  Pforzheim.  At 
his  sister's  house  he  became  acquainted  with  her 
3'oung  boarders,  and  was  soon  struck  with  Philip's 
replies.  He  presented  him  with  a  Greek  grammar 
and  a  Bible.  These  two  books  were  to  be  the  study 
of  his  whole  life. 

"  When  Reuchlin  returned  from  his  second 
journey  to  Italy,  his  young  relative,  then  twelve 
years  old,  celebrated  the  day  of  his  arrival  by  rep- 
resenting before  him,  with  the  aid  of  some  fi-iends, 
a  Latin  comedy  which  he  had  himself  composed. 
Reuchlin,  charmed  with  the  young  man's  talents, 


240  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

tenderly  embraced  liim,  called  him  his  dear  son, 
and  placed  sportively  upon  his  head  the  red  hat  he 
had  received  when  he  had  been  made  doctor.  It' 
was  at  this  time  that  Eeuchlin  changed  the  name 
of  Schwartzerd  into  that  of  Melancthon ;  both  words, 
the  one  in  German,  the  other  in  Greek,  signify  hlcick 
earth. 

"  Melancthon  at  twelve  years  of  age  went  to  the 
university  of  Heidelberg,  and  here  he  began  to  slake 
his  ardent  thirst  for  knowledge.  He  took  his  bach- 
elor's degree.  In  1512,  Reuchliu  invited  him  to 
Tubingen,  where  many  learned  men  were  assembled. 
He  attended  by  turns  the  lectures  of  the  theolo- 
gians, doctors,  and  lawyers.  There  was  no  branch 
of  knowledge  which  he  deemed  unworthy  of  his 
study.  Praise  w^as  not  his  object,  but  the  posses- 
sion and  the  fruits  of  learning.  The  holy  Scriptures 
especially  engaged  his  attention.  Those  who  fre- 
quented the  church  of  Tubingen  had  remarked  that 
he  often  held  a  book  in  his  hand  which  he  occupied 
himself  in  reading  between  the  services.  This  un- 
known volume  appeared  larger  than  the  prayer- 
book,  and  a  report  w^as  circulated  that  PhiHp  used 
to  read  profane  authors  during  those  intervals. 
But  the  suspected  book  proved  to  be  a  copy  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  printed  shortly  before  at  Basle,  by 
John  Frobenius.  All  his  life  he  continued  this 
study  with  the  most  unceasing  application. 

"  '  I  entertain  the  most  distinguished  and  splen- 
did expectations  of  Melancthon,'  wrote  Erasmus  to 
(Ecolampadius  about  this  time.    '  God  grant  that 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  241 

this  young  man  may  long-  survive  us.  He  will  en- 
tirely eclipse  Erasmus.'  Nevertheless,  Melancthon 
shared  in  many  of  the  errors  of  his  age.  '  I  shud- 
der,' he  said,  at  a  more  advanced  period  of  his  life, 
'  when  I  think  of  the  honor  I  paid  to  images  while 
I  was  yet  a  papist.' 

"  In  1514  he  was  made  a  doctor,  and  then  he 
began  to  teach.  He  was  seventeen  years  old.  The 
grace  and  charm  that  he  imparted  to  his  lessons 
formed  the  most  striking  contrast  to  the  tasteless 
method  which  the  doctors,  and  above  all,  the  monks, 
had  pursued  till  then.  He  also  took  an  active  part 
in  the  struggle  in  which  Reuchlin  was  engaged  with 
the  learning-haters  of  the  day.  Agreeable  in  con- 
versation, mild  and  elegant  in  his  manners,  fasci- 
nating and  eloquent  in  the  lecture-room,  beloved  by 
all  Avho  knew  him,  he  soon  acquired  great  authority 
and  a  solid  reputation  in  the  learned  world. 

"  It  was  at  this  time  that  the  elector  formed  the 
design  of  inviting  some  distinguished  scholar  to  the 
university  of  Wittemberg,  as  professor  of  the  ancient 
languages.  He  applied  to  Reuchlin,  who  recom- 
mended Melancthon.  Frederick  foresis-w  the  celeb- 
rity that  this  young  man  would  confer  on  an  in- 
stitution so  dear  to  him,  and  Reuchlin,  charmed  at 
beholding  so  noble  a  career  opening  before  his 
young  friend,  wrote  to  him  these  words  of  the  Al- 
mighty to  Abraham:  '  Get  thee  out  of  iky  country, 
and  from  thy  Idndred,  and  froni  thy  fc'hers  house, 
and  I  ivill  maJee  thy  name  great,  and  thou  shalt  he  a 
hlessing.'     'Yea,'  continued  the  old  man,  'I  hope 


242  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

that  it  will  be  so  witli  thee,  my  dear  Philij),  my 
consolation.' 

"  At  his  departure  the  nniversit}-  was  filled  with 
sorrow  ;  yet  it  contained  individuals  who  were  jeal- 
ous and  envious  of  him.  He  left  his  native  place, 
exclaiDiing,  '  The  Lord's  will  be  done.'  He  was 
then  twenty-one  years  of  age. 

"  Melancthon  travelled  on  horseback  in  company 
with  several  Saxon  merchants,  as  a  traveller  joins  a 
caravan  in  the  deserts ;  for,  says  Eeuclilin,  he  was 
unacquainted  both  with  the  roads  and  the  country. 
He  presented  his  resjDects  to  the  elector,  whom  he 
found  at  Augsburg.  At  Nuremberg  he  saw  the  ex- 
cellent Pirckheimer,  whom  he  had  known  before  ; 
at  Leipsic  he  formed  an  acquaintance  with  the 
learned  Hellenist,  Masellanus.  The  university  of 
the  last  city  gave  a  banquet  in  his  honor.  The  re- 
past was  academical.  The  dishes  succeeded  one 
another  in  great  variety,  and  at  each  new  dish  one 
of  the  professors  rose  and  addressed  Melancthon  in 
a  Latin  speech  prepared  beforehand.  The  latter 
immediately  replied  extemporaneously. 

"  At  last,  wearied  with  so  much  eloquence,  he 
said,  'Most  illustrious  men,  permit  me  to  reply  to 
your  compliments  once  for  all ;  for,  being  unprepared, 
I  cannot  put  such  variety  into  my  answers  as  you  have 
put  in  your  addresses.'  After  this,  the  dishes  were 
brought  in  without  the  accompaniment  of  a  speech. 
"  Keuchlin's  youthful  relative  arrived  in  Wittem- 
berg  on  the  25th  of  August,  1518,  two  days  after 
Leo  X.  had  signed  the  brief  to  Cajetan. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  243 

"  The  Wittemberg  professors  did  not  receive 
Melancthon  so  favorably  as  tliose  of  Leipsio  had 
done.  The  first  impression  he  made  on  them  did 
not  correspond  with  their  expectations.  They  saw 
a  young  man,  who  appeared  younger  than  he  really 
was,  of  small  stature,  and  with  a  feeble  and  almost 
timid  air.  Was  this  the  illustrious  doctor  whom 
Erasmus  and  Reuchlin,  the  greatest  men  of  the  day, 
exalted  so  highly  ?  Neither  Luther,  with  whom  he 
first  became  acquainted,  nor  his  colleagues  enter- 
tained any  great  hopes  of  him  when  they  saw  his 
youth,  his  shyness,  and  his  diflident  manner.  On 
the  29th  inst.,  four  days  after  his  arrival,  he  deliv- 
ered his  inaugural  discourse.  All  the  university 
was  assembled.  This  lad,  as  Luther  calls  him, 
sj)oke  in  such  elegant  latinity,  and  showed  so  much 
learning,  an  understanding  so  cultivated,  and  a 
judgment  so  sound,  that  all  his  hearers  were  struck 
with  admiration.  When  the  speech  was  finished 
all  crowded  around  him  with  congratulations,  but  no 
one  felt  more  joy  than  Luther. 

"  He  hastened  to  impart  to  his  fi'iends  the  senti- 
ments that  filled  his  heart.  '  Melancthon,'  wrote 
he  to  Spalatiu,  on  the  31st  of  August,  '  delivered, 
four  days  after  his  arrival,  so  learned  and  so  beauti- 
ful a  discourse,  that  every  one  listened  with  aston- 
ishment and  admiration.  We  soon  recovered  from 
the  prejudices  excited  by  his  stature  and  appear- 
ance ;  we  now  praise  and  admire  his  eloquence  ;  we 
return  our  thanks  to  you  and  to  the  prince  for  the 
service  you  have  done  us.     I  ask  for  no  other  Greek 


244  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

master.  But  I  fear  tliat  liis  delicate  frame  will  be 
unable  to  support  our  mode  of  living,  and  that  we 
shall  be  unable  to  keep  him  long  on  account  of  the 
smallness  of  his  salary.  I  hear  that  the  Leipsic 
people  are  already  boasting  of  their  power  to  take 
him  from  us.  Oh,  my  dear  Spalatin,  beware  of  de- 
spising his  age  and  his  personal  appearance.  He 
is  a  man  worthy  of  every  honor.' 

"  Melancthon  began  immediately  to  lecture  on 
Homer,  and  the  epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  Titus.  He 
was  full  of  ardor.  *  I  will  make  every  effort,' 
wrote  he  to  Spalatin,  'to  conciliate  the  favor  of 
all  those  in  Wittemberg  who  love  learning  and 
virtue.' 

"  Four  days  after  his  inauguration,  Luther  wrote 
again  to  Spalatin  :  '  I  most  particularly  recommend 
to  you  the  very  learned,  very  amiable  Grecian, 
Philip.  His  lecture-room  is  always  full.  All  the 
theologians  in  particular  go  to  hear  him.  He  is 
making  every  class,  upper,  lower,  and  midtUe,  begin 
to  read  Greek.' 

"Melancthon  was  able  to  respond  to  Luther's 
affection.  He  soon  found  in  him  a  kindness  of  dis- 
position, a  strength  of  mind,  a  courage,  a  discretion 
that  he  had  never  found  till  then  in  any  man.  He 
venerated,  he  loved  him.  '  If  there  is  any  one,' 
said  he,  '  whom  I  dearly  love,  and  whom  I  embrace 
with  my  whole  heart,  it  is  Martin  Luther.' 

"Thus  did  Luther  and  Melancthon  meet;  they 
were  friends  until  death.  We  cannot  too  much  ad- 
mire the  goodness  and  wisdom  of  God  in  bringing 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEB.  245 

togctlier  two  men  so  different,  and  yet  so  necessary 
to  one  another.  Luther  possessed  warmth,  vigor, 
and  strength  ;  Melancthon  clearness,  discretion,  and 
mildness.  Luther  gave  energy  to  Melancthon ; 
Melancthon  moderated  Luther.  They  were  like 
substances  in  a  state  of  positive  and  negative  elec- 
tricity, which  mutually  act  upon  each  other.  If 
Luther  had  been  without  Melancthon,  perhaps  the 
torrent  would  have  overflowed  its  banks ;  Melanc- 
thon, when  Luther  was  taken  from  him  by  death, 
hesitated  and  gave  way  even  where  he  should  not 
have  yielded. 

"  Luther  did  much  by  power ;  Melancthon,  per- 
haps, did  no  less  by  following  a  gentler  and  more 
tranquil  method.  Both  were  upright,  open-hearted, 
generous ;  both  ardently  loved  the  word  of  eternal 
life,  and  obeyed  it  with  a  fidelity  and  devotion  that 
governed  their  whole  lives. 

"  Melancthon's  arrival  at  Wittemberg  effected  a 
revolution,  not  only  in  the  university,  but  in  the 
whole  of  Germany,  and  in  all  the  learned  world. 
The  attention  he  had  bestowed  on  the  Greek  and 
Latin  classics,  and  on  philosophy,  had  given  a  reg- 
ularity, clearness,  and  precision  to  his  ideas  which 
shed  new  light,  and  an  indescribable  beauty  on 
every  subject  that  he  took  in  hand.  The  mild  spirit 
of  the  gospel  fertilized  and  animated  his  medita- 
tions, and  in  his  lectures  the  driest  pursuits  were 
clothed  with  a  surpassing  grace  that  captivated  all 
hearers.  The  barrenness  that  scholasticism  had 
cast  over  education  was  at  an  end.     'Thanks  to 


246  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

liim,'  says  an  illustrious  German  historian,  'Wit- 
temberg  became  the  school  of  the  nation.' 

"It  was  indeed  highly  important  that  a  man  who 
knew  Attic  Greek  and  Hebrew,  should  teach  in 
that  university  where  the  new  developments  of  the- 
ology called  upon  masters  and  pupils  to  study,  in 
their  original  language,  the  earliest  documents  of 
the  Christian  faith.  From  this  time  Luther  labored 
zealously  at  his  task.  The  meaning  of  a  Greek 
word,  of  which  he  had  been  ignorant  till  then,  sud- 
denly cleared  up  his  theological  ideas.  What  con- 
solation and  what  joy  did  he  not  feel,  when  he  saw, 
for  instance,  that  the  Greek  word  i^eruvoia,  which,  ac- 
cording to  the  Latin  church,  signifies  a  penance,  a 
satisfaction  required  by  the  church,  a  human  expi- 
ation, really  meant  in  Greek  a  transformation  or 
conversion  of  the  heart.  A  thick  mist  was  suddenly 
rolled  away  from  his  eyes.  The  two  significations 
given  to  this  word  by  the  two  churches  suflice  of 
themselves  to  characterize  the  difference  between 
them. 

"  The  impulse  Melancthon  gave  to  Luther  in  the 
translation  of  the  Bible  into  German,  is  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  circumstances  of  the  friendshii? 
between  these  two  great  men.  As  early  as  1517 
Luther  had  made  some  attempts  at  such  a  transla- 
tion. He  had  procured  as  many  Greek  and  Latin 
books  as  were  within  his  reach.  And  now,  with  the 
aid  of  his  dear  Philip,  he  aj)plied  himself  to  this 
task  with  fresh  energy.  Luther  compelled  Melanc- 
thon to  share  in  his  researches ;  consulted  him  on 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  247 

the  difficult  passages ;  and  the  work,  which  was 
destined  to  be  one  of  the  great  labors  of  the  re- 
former, advanced  more  safely  and  more  speedily. 

"Melancthon,  on  his  side,  became  acquainted 
with  the  new  theology.  The  beautiful  and  profound 
doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  filled  him  with  as- 
tonishment and  joy,  but  he  received  with  independ- 
ence the  system  taught  by  Luther,  and  moulded  it 
to  the  peculiar  form  of  his  own  mind ;  for  although 
he  was  only  twenty-one  years  old,  he  was  one  of 
those  precocious  geniuses  who  attain  early  to  a  full 
possession  of  all  their  powers,  and  who  think  for 
themselves  from  the  very  outset."* 

Such  was  Philip  Melancthon,  as  drawn  by  the 
pencil  of  a  great  hterary  artist. 

Meantime  this  illustrious  faculty  raised  the  rep- 
utation of  the  "Wittemberg  university  to  so  high  a 
degree,  that  it  now  confessedly  stood  at  the  head 
of  the  German  schools.  An  immense  concourse  of 
students  was  attracted  thither.  Luther  himself  tells 
us  that  "it  Avas  a  complete  liive,"t 

An  author  nearly  contemporary  says,  "I  have 
heard  fi"om  our  preceptors,  that  students  from  all 
nations  crowded  to  Wittemberg  to  hear  Luther  and 
Melancthon.  As  soon  as  they  got  within  sight  of 
the  town,  they  returned  thanks  to  Grod  with  clasped 
hands ;  for  from  Wittemberg,  as  heretofore  from 
Jerusalem,  proceeded  the  light  of  evangelical  truth, 
*io  spread  thence  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  tlieearth."| 

*D'xVubigue,  Vol.  I.,  Chap.  III.  of  Book  IV.,  pp.  35G-363. 
f  L.  Epp.,  XV.,  3G.  X  ycultetus,  annalia,  auno  1517. 


248  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTEK   XXI. 

But  Luther  did  not  suffer  the  inexpressible  de- 
lights of  his  friendship  Avith  the  congenial  Melanc- 
thon  to  divert  him  from  the  completion  of  his  prep- 
arations for  the  proposed  meeting  with  pope  Leo's 
legate. 

Luther's  great  fear  now  was,  that  he  might  com- 
promise the  elector.  This  is  shown  by  a  letter  writ- 
ten to  Spala+^'n  a  few  days  after  the  advent  of  Me- 
lancthon :  "I  do  not  require  that  our  sovereign 
should  do  the  least  thing  in  defence  of  my  theses ; 
I  am  even  willing  to  be  given  up,  and  thrown  into 
the  hands  of  my  adversaries.  Let  him  permit  all 
the  storm  to  burst  upon  me.  What  I  have  under- 
taken to  defend,  I  hope  to  be  able  to  maintain,  with 
the  help  of  Christ.  As  for  violence,  we  must  needs 
yield  to  that,  but  without  abandoning  the  truth."* 

Luther's  courage  Avas  so  infectious,  that  even 
the  timid  and  pacific  vicar-general  was  momentarily 
lifted  by  it  into  heroism.  Staupitz  wrote  Spalatin, 
on  the  7th  of  September, 

"  Do  you  cease  to  exhort  the  prince,  your  master 
and  mine,  not  to  allow  himself  to  be  frightened  by 
the  roaring  of  the  lions.  Let  him  defend  the  truth 
without  anxioty,  either  about  Luther,  Staupitz,  or 
the  order.  Let  there  be  one  place  at  least  where 
men  may  speak  freely  and  without  fear.  I  know 
*  L.  Epp.  I.,  139. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHER.  249 

that  the  plague  of  Babylon — I  was  nearly  saying,  of 
Rome — is  let  loose  against  whoever  attacks  the  abus- 
es of  those  who  sell  Jesus  Christ.  I  have  myself  seen 
a  preacher  thrown  from  a  pulpit  for  teaching  the 
truth.  I  saw  him,  although  it  was  a  festival,  bound 
and  dragged  to  prison.  Others  have  witnessed  still 
more  cruel  sights.  For  this  reason,  dearest  Spa- 
latin,  prevail  upon  his  highness  to  continue  in  his 
present  sentiments."* 

But  at  last  the  citation  of  the  cardinal  legate 
arrived.  In  this  formidable  missive,  Luther  was 
summoned  to  appear  at  Augsburg  as  soon  as  might 
be,  there  to  undergo  an  examination  before  this 
proxy  of  the  pope. 

Luther's  friends  clamored  as  vehemently  against 
the  idea  of  his  responding  to  Cajetan's  citation  as 
they  had  previously  against  his  attempting  to  ap- 
pear before  the  ecclesiastical  commission  at  Eome. 
They  knew  well  the  trickery  and.  the  unscrupulous- 
ness  of  the  apostolic  see.  The  partisans  of  the 
new-modelled  theology  dreaded  to  see  their  admired 
chief  exposed  to  the  subtle  intrigues  of  crafty  Piome. 
He  was  safe  folded  in  their  hearts  and  arms  at  Wit- 
temberg.  It  was  thought  that  if  he  refused  to'meet 
the  legate,  even  Leo  would  pause  before  venturing 
to  assault  him  in  the  citadel  of  the  Eeformation. 

The  imminent  danger  which  now  threatened  his 
protege  caused  poor  Staupitz  to  lose  heart.  He  be- 
came as  dejected  as  he  had  before  been  bold.  "Writ- 
ing Luther  from  his  convent  at  Salzburg  on  the  15th 

*  Jeu.  Aug. ,  I. ,  381. 
11* 


250  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

of  September,  only  eight  days  after  his  letter  to 
Spalatin,  he  said, 

"It  appears  to  me,  dear  brother  Martin,  that 
the  whole  world  is  enraged  and  combined  against 
the  truth.  The  crucified  Jesus  was  hated  in  like 
manner.  I  do  not  see  that  you  have  any  thing  else 
to  expect  but  persecution.  Ere  long  no  one  will  be 
able,  without  the  pope's  permission,  to  search  the 
Scriptures,  and  therein  look  for  Jesus  Christ,  which 
Jesus  Christ  however  commands.  You  have  but 
few  friends ;  I  would  to  God  that  fear  of  your  ad- 
versaries did  not  prevent  those  few  from  declaring 
themselves  in  your  favor. 

"  The  wisest  course  is  for  you  to  abandon  Wit- 
temberg  for  a  season,  and  come  to  me.  Then  we 
shall  live  and  die  together.  This  is  also  the  prince's 
opinion."* 

Luther,  undaunted  by  the  forebodings  of  his 
friends,  unmoved  by  the  prayers  of  Staupitz,  deter- 
mined to  face  the  legate  at  Augsburg. 

This  Bayard,  this  Sidney  of  the  gospel,  recol- 
lecting that  his  prince  had  announced,  in  his  letter 
from  the  imperial  diet  to  the  pope,  that  his  Augus- 
tine jJl'ofessor  was  ready  and  anxious  to  defend  his 
tenets  before  a  competent  tribunal,  thought  it  but 
just  now  to  redeem  the  elector's  pledge. 

'Luther  was  still  more  confirmed  in  this  deter- 
mination by  the  reception  of  a  note  from  his  court 
friend  Sj^alatin,  in  which  that  excellent  man  informed 
him  that  the  prince  thought  he  had  best  appear  at 
Epp.  I.,  61. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  251 

Augsburg,  but  tliat  lie  would  not  suffer  liim  to  be 
dragged  to  Eome. 

He  had  received  word  from  Count  Albert  of 
Mansfeldt,  that  several  powerful  lords  liad  bound 
themselves  by  solemn  oath  to  waylay  and  seize  him, 
should  he  venture  to  set  out  for  Augsburg,  with  the 
intention  either  of  strangling  him  or  carrying  him 
to  Rome  in  chains.* 

This  information  led  the  Saxon  monk  to  request 
his  prince  to  pro"\dde  him  with  a  safe-conduct  to  and 
from  the  rendezvous  of  the  legate. 

Frederick's  excessive  caution  prevented  his  com- 
pliance with  this  demand,  but  he  provided  for  his 
safety  by  giving  him  letters  of  recommendation  to 
a  number  of  dignitaries  on  his  route,  and  also  to 
the  senate  and  to  the  most  influential  citizens  of 
Augsburg,  t 

Thus  doubly  armed  by  the  kindness  of  the  pru- 
dent elector  and  by  that  lofty  heroism,  that  enthu- 
siastic TRUST  IN  God  which  never  wavered,  Luther 
quitted  Wittemberg  in  the  latter  part  of  September, 
1518,  and  reaching  Weimar,  where  the  elector  was 
holding  his  court,  lodged  in  the  Cordelier's  monas- 
tery, the  cowardly  monks  of  his  own  order  fearing 
to  open  their  doors  to  the  Saxon  heresiarch.J 

On  the  following  day  the  elector  invited  Luther 
to  preach  before  the  court,  it  being  the  festival  of 
St.  Michael. 

*  L.  Epp.  I.,  129. 

■f  Milner,  Seckendorf,  Mclaucthou,  auci  others. 

t  Myconius,  Hist.  Bef. 


252  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

There  is  uo  question  but  that  Frederick  was 
ashamed  of  his  course  in  writing  so  obsequiously 
to  Leo  from  the  diet.  He  had  written  in  a  heat, 
and  when  under  the  frown  of  the  emperor.  But  the 
court  protection  he  gave,  the  kind  words  he  uttered, 
and  the  undisguised  admiration  which  he  felt  for 
his  professor's  genius — these  are  now  facts  of  his- 
tory, and  may  not  be  controverted. 

Leo  had  Avritten  Frederick  at  the  same  time  that 
he  forwarded  the  brief  to  Cajetan,  seeking  by  a  cun- 
ning mixtur*.  <  a  dattery  and  menace  to  detach  the 
prince  from  all  connection  with  Luther.  But  the 
penetrating  elector  easily  detected  the  motive  of 
the  pontiff;  and  besides,  he  never  acted  hastily,  but 
always  with  caution  and  due  reserve.  "  His  sense 
of  justice,"  says  Melancthon,  "was  nobly  strong, 
and  when  he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  a  course  of 
action,  no  earthly  poAver  could  move  him  or  make 
him  budge  an  inch."^ 

Frederick  had  just  come  from  Augsburg,  where 
he  had  seen  the  legate  in  person,  and  pledged  him 
to  use  Luther  with  kindness,  and  to  return  him  un- 
harmed.t  He  now,  after  liberally  praising  the  elo- 
quent doctor's  court  discourse,  and  after  supplying 
him  with  funds  and  additional  letters  of  recom- 
mendation, dismissed  him  to  the  momentous  meet- 
ing with  the  legate. :|: 

Luther  trudged  on  afoot  to  Nuremberg,  where 
an  old  friend,  Wenceslas  Link,  the  preacher,  resided. 

*  Melancthou's  ' '  Vita  Liitheri. "     f  Archives  of  Saxe  Gotha. 
X  Seckendoif. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  253 

Making  his  house  his  homo  during  his  tarry  in  the 
quaint  old  citj',  lie  renewed  old  friendships  and 
formed  new  ones. 

Here  he  met  that  Scheurl  who  had  been  so  ac- 
tive in  attempting  to  heal  the  breach  between  him- 
self and  Eck  of  Ingolstadt.  Here  also  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the  illustrious  painter,  Albrecht 
Dtlrer. 

Luther  enjoyed  this  visit  exceedingly,  and  felt 
strengthened  by  it;  but  time  pressed,  and  he  knew 
that  he  must  hasten  on. 

Upon  informing  Link  of  his  intention  to  resume 
his  journey  immediately,  he  was  surprised  to  learn 
that  this  devoted  friend  had  determined  to  share  the 
perils  of  his  route  by  accompanying  him  to  Augs- 
burg; and  in  this  resolution  a  brother  monk  of  the 
Augustine  order,  named  Leonard,  also  particij)ated. 

Of  course  Luther  was  obliged  to  acquiesce  in 
this  arrangement,  and  the  three  hastening  forward, 
reached  Augsburg  on  the  evening  of  the  7th  of  Oc- 
tober, alighting  at  the  Augustine  convent  sorely 
fatigued  in  body,  but  jubilant  in  spirit. 

Indeed  Luther's  intrepid  courage  was  never 
more  grandly  shown  than  on  the  occasion  of  this 
tour  to  Augsburg.  His  letters  ^\Titten  from  Nu- 
remberg breathe  the  very  soul  of  self-sacrificing 
lioroism.  One  especially  thrills  like  the  blast  of  a 
triimpet : 

"  I  have  met,"  so  runs  the  text — "  I  have  met 
with  pusillanimous  men  who  wish  to  persuade  me 
not  to  go  to  Augsburg,  but  I  am  resolved  to  pro- 


254  or  MAETIN  LUTHEE. 

ceed.    Tlie  Lord's  will  be  done.    Even  in  Angsburg, 
even  in  the  midst  of  his  enemies,  Christ  reigns. 

"Let  Christ  live  ;  let  Luther  die.  May  the  God 
of  my  salvation  be  exalted.  Farewell.  Persevere ; 
stand  fast ;  for  it  is  necessary  to  be  rejected  either 
by  God  or  by  man ;  but  God  is  true,  and  man  is  a 
liar."* 

*  Weismanni,  Hist.  Sacr.  Nov.  Test.,  p.  1465. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  255 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

The  morning  after  his  arrival  at  Augsburg, 
Link,  by  Luther's  request,  waited  upon  the  legate 
and  respectfully  informed  him  of  the  Saxon  monk's 
arrival  and  readiness  to  appear  before  him ;  at  the 
same  time,  having  learned  that  Staupitz  was  in 
town,  Luther  sent  a  missive  by  the  Augustine  Leon- 
ard, in  which  he  begged  the  vicar-general  to  come 
and  see  him. 

This  done,  the  Wittemberg  doctor  went  in  per- 
son to  deliver  the  elector's  letters  of  recommenda- 
tion to  those  influential  citizens  of  Augsburg  to 
whom  they  were  respectively  directed. 

These  honest  burghers  received  him  with  the 
utmost  cordiality,  and  being  cognizant  of  Cajetan's 
crafty  projects,  they  unanimously  exhorted  the 
Augustinian  not  to  wait  upon  the  cardinal  until  he 
had  obtained  a  safe-conduct  from  the  emperor ;  who, 
notwithstanding  the  dissolution  of  the  recent  diet, 
still  lingered  near  the  city,  detained  by  the  hunting 
attractions  of  the  neighboring  forests. 

Luther  was  at  length  persuaded  to  act  upon  this 
judicious  advice.  Three  days  afterwards,  either 
these  same  citizens,  or  the  influence  of  Frederick, 
exerted  svb  rosa,  or  his  own  abeady  existing  pre- 
disposition to  befriend  the  courageous  monk,  pre- 
vailed upon  Maximilian  to  announce  to  the  outwitted 
cardinal  that  the  public  faith  was  pledged  to  Luther, 


256  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

and  that  therefore  the  empire  stood  between  him 
and  all  violence.* 

Luther  doubtless  breathed  more  freely  on  gain- 
ing this  important  point,  though  he  could  not  but 
remember  that  John  Huss'  i^yre  at  Constance  was 
kindled  despite  a  similar  imperial  guarantee,  and 
that  the  audacious  hand  of  Rome  pushed  away  the 
cobweb  protection  of  the  pubUc  faith  without  a 
scruple. 

Moreover  his  opinion  of  the  value  of  the  em- 
peror's parchment  was  not  increased  when  he  was 
informed  of  the  legate's  ominous  reply,  upon  being 
told  that  Maximilian  and  his  council  had  granted 
the  safe-conduct:  "It  is  very  well,"  said  the  subtle 
cardinal ;  "  nevertheless  I  shall  do  my  duty."  t 

Yet  Cajetan  was  chagrined  at  Luther's  reception 
of  the  imperial  passport,  and  he  had  done  his 
utmost  not  only  to  prevent  the  emperor  from  grant- 
ing it,  but  to  persuade  the  contumacious  Saxon 
monk  from  demanding  it. 

This  was  the  manner  in  which  Luther  spent  the 
three  days  which  intervened  between  his  arrival  at 
Augsburg,  and  his  reception  of  the  safe-conduct. 

On  the  first  morning,  Saturday,  October  8th, 
when  he  had  but  just  arisen,  he  was  waited  on  by 
an  emissary  of  the  legate,  who  came,  however,  in 
the  guise  of  a  friend  and  well-wisher,  carefully 
avoiding  all  appearance  of  any  connection  with  the 
cardinal,  and  affirming  that  he  was  actuated  solely 

*  Melcli.  Adam.     Vita  Myconius. 

■j-  Varillas,  Bossiiet,  Seckendorf,  Milner. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  257 

by  the  desire  of  happily  accommodating  the  existing 
difficulties. 

This  personage  was  Urban  of  Serra  Longa,  an 
Italian  courtier  then  attached  to  the  train  of  Caje- 
tau,  and  who  was  somewhat  familiar  with  Germany, 
from  having  visited  it  repeatedly  on  diplomatic 
missions. 

Urban  was  possessed  of  the  proverbial  Italian 
address,  but  he  met  much  more  than  his  match  in 
Luther,  who  beat  him  at  his  own  weapons. 

On  first  meeting  Luther  at  the  Augustine  con- 
vent, he  embraced  him  afiectionately,  and  opened 
the  conversation  by  sj^ying, 

"  I  am  come,  my  dear  doctor,  to  offer  you  some 
good  advice.  Be  wise,  and  become  reconciled  with 
the  church.  Retract  your  offensive  language.  Ke- 
member  the  abbot  Joachim  of  Florence  ;  he  had 
published,  as  you  know,  many  heretical  things,  and 
3^et  he  was  declared  no  heretic,  because  he  retracted 
his  errors." 

Luther  said  that  he  thought  what  he  had  pub- 
lished was  not  heretical,  but  might  be  justified  by 
an  appeal  to  Scripture  and  the  canons  of  the 
church.* 

Urban  rejoined,  "  Beware  of  that.  Would  you 
enter  the  lists  with  the  legate  ?" 

"  That  is  not  necessary,"  replied  Luther ;  "  if 
they  convince  me  of  having  taught  any  thing  con- 
trary to  the  Roman  church,  I  shall  be  my  own 
judge,  and  immediately  retract.  The  essential 
*  L.  Epp.,  I.,  144. 


258  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

point  will  be  to  know  whether  the  legate  relies  on 
the  authority  of  St.  Thomas  more  than  the  faith 
will  sanction.     If  he  does,  I  will  not  yield." 

"  Oh  ho,"  cried  Urban,  "you  do  intend  to  break 
a  lance  then  ?"  The  blasphemous  Italian  then  went 
on  to  argue  that  the  holy  see  might  perform  any 
act,  however  horrible,  and  that  no  one  was  com- 
petent to  criticize ;  that  all  discussion  in  the  uni- 
versities concerning  the  pope's  authority  was  in- 
solent, and  that  Leo  could,  by  a  single  nod,  either 
radically  change  or  totally  suppress  the  articles  of 
faith.* 

These  atrocious  sentimenjts  instantly  convinced 
Luther  of  this  go-between's  true  character ;  in  con- 
sequence he  became  less  comminiicative,  simj)ly 
remarking,  "  I  am  disj)osed  to  give  all  proof  of  obe- 
dience, and  to  retract  those  things  in  which  I  have 
erred."t 

Urban,  mistaking  these  ambiguous  words  for  au 
expression  of  willingness  to  recant,  Joyfully  placed 
his  hat  upon  his  head,  and  starting  for  the  door, 
paused  only  to  say,  "  I  hasten  to  the  legate ;  you 
will  prepare  to  foUow  me  presently.  All  wiU  soon 
be  settled."! 

"Ah,  ah,"  thought  Luther,  when  this  "bungling 
mediator"  departed,  "this  crafty  Sinon  has  been 
badly  taught  and  trained  by  his  Greeks."§ 

Urban  of  Serra  Longa  had  not  been  long  gone, 

*  L.  Epp.,  I.,  144.  t  ^^^ 

t  L.  0pp.,  (L.)  XVII. ,  179. 

§  L.  Epp.,  I,  144.     ^ueid,  book  11. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHER.  259 

when  the  "VVittemberg  doctor  was  visited  bj  more 
friendly  and  welcome  guests. 

Peutiuger,  the  imperial  councillor  Langemantcl, 
an  eminent  patrician  of  the  city,  Dr.  Anerbach  of 
Leipsic,  the  brothers  Adelmann,  both  canons,  and 
several  other  illustrious  men,  spent  some  hours  with 
this  monk  whose  fame  had  already  spread  through 
Christendom. 

They  united  in  urging  him  to  adhere  to  their 
advice,  and  to  take  no  steps  towards  seeing  Cajetan 
until  the  arrival  of  the  emperor's  safe-conduct ;  Dr. 
Auerbach  frankly  informing  him  that  "  one  could 
not  trust  these  Italians."* 

But  while  Luther  was  thus  closeted  with  these 
eminent  citizens,  Urban  returned,  and  was  some- 
what surprised  to  find  the  German  heresiarch  so 
respectably  attended.  Drawing  Luther  aside,  he 
whispered,  "  Come,  the  cardinal  awaits  you ;  I  will 
conduct  you  to  him. 

"  But  you  must  first  learn  how  to  conduct  yourself 
in  his  presence  :  when  3'ou  enter  his  room  3'ou  must 
prostrate  yourself  before  him,  with  your  face  to  the 
ground.  When  he  tells  you  to  rise,  kneel  before 
him,  and  thus  await  his  further  orders  before  ven- 
turing to  stand  up."t 

It  was  with  these  grand  salaams,  with  these  cer- 
emonies of  Eastern  despotism,  that  this  lackey  of  a 
lackey  instructed  Martin  Luther,  doctor  of  divinity, 
professor  in  a  famous  university,  a  man  already 
remarkable  for  his  learning  and  his  genius,  to  meet 
*  L.  Epp.,  I.,  14:3.  t  L-  0pp.,  (L.)  179. 


260  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

this  .upstart  cardinal,  in  whose  right  hand  Leo  X. 
had  secreted  the  thunders  of  his  see  ! 

Luther  informed  Serra  Longa  that  he  should  be 
happy  to  meet  the  legate,  but  that  on  the  advice  of 
his  Augsburg  friends  he  had  concluded  to  procure 
from  the  emperor  a  safe-conduct,  which  he  expected 
would  reach  him  within  a  day  or  two,  after  which 
he  was  at  the  service  of  the  cardinal,* 

Urban  was  alarmed  :  "Beware,"  he  replied,  "of 
asking  for  any  thing  of  the  kind.  The  legate  is 
kindly  disi30sed  towards  you,  and  ready  to  end  all 
in  a  friendly  manner.  Trust  him.  If  you  demand 
a  safe-conduct  you  ruin  all,"t 

"  My  friend,"  was  the  calm,  firm  response,  "  my 
gracious  sovereign,  the  Elector  of  Saxony,  recom- 
mended me  to  several  very  honorable  men  in  this 
city.  They  advise  me  to  undertake  nothing  without 
a  safe-conduct ;  I  ought  to  follow  their  advice.  For 
if  I  did  not,  and  any  thing  should  happen,  they  would 
write  to  my  prince  that  I  was  rash  and  obstinate, 
and  repudiated  their  counsel." 

The  baffled  courtier,  after  several  attempts  to 
break  this  resolution  of  the  Saxon  monk,  was  at 
length  compelled  to  return  to  Cajetan  and  report 
his  failure  on  the  eve  of  aj)parent  success. 

So  ended  the  first  day. 

On  the  morning  of  the  next,  which  was  Sunday, 

Frosch,  prior  of  the  Augsburg  Carmelites,  an  old 

friend  of  the  "Wittemberg  professor,  v\^ho  had  studied 

theology  at  the  elector's  universit}^,  and  defended 

*  Seckendorf.  t  ^-  0pp.,  (L.)  179. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  261 

certain  theses  under  Lutlier's  presidency,  came 
early  in  the  morning  and  invited  his  old  teacher  to 
make  his  monastery  his  home  during  his  tarry  at 
the  legate's  rendezvous.  This  kind  invitation 
Luther  at  once  accepted,  thus  changing  the  Augus- 
tine convent  for  the  monastery  of  the  Carmelites.* 

On  this  day  Luther's  trials  were  of  a  different 
kind.  He  was  thronged  by  the  populace,  "  anx- 
ious," as  he  wrote  Melancthon,  "  to  see  this  new 
Erostratus,  who  had  caused  so  vast  a  conflagration."t 

Keports  of  his  marvellous  eloquence  had  got 
abroad.  He  was  entreated  to  go  into  the  pulpit. 
But  his  sense  of  propriety,  and  a  fear  of  annoying^ 
the  legate,  and  thus  further  entangling  the  existing 
difficulties,  kept  him  fi'om  complying  with  these 
importunities. 

Towards  evening,  Cajetan  dispatched  two  new 
envoys  to  his  refractory  penitent.  "  The  cardinal," 
they  affirmed,  "  is  a  very  merciful  father  ;  he  gives 
you  every  assurance  of  his  grace  and  favor.  What 
delays  you  ?  What  do  you  fear  ?  Do  you  doubt 
the  word  of  this  prince  of  the  church  ?"  But  some 
one  now  approached  and  whispered  in  his  ear, 
"  Cajetan  never  keeps  his  word.  Do  not  permit 
these  jackals  to  hoodwink  you."| 

Luther  received  these  emissaries  courteously, 
but  his  rasolution  was  not  to  be  broken. 

*  Melancthon,  Vita  Luthori. 

f  "OmuGs  ciipiunt  videre  hominem,  tanti  iuceudii  Hcrostra- 
tum."    Epp.  I.,  146. 

X  L.  Opp.,  (L.,)  XVIL,  205. 


262  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

On  Monday  Serra  Longa  was  commissioned  to 
make  one  last  effort  to  break  tlie  iron  determination 
of  the  Saxon  theologian.  On  this  occasion  he  made 
use  of  his  whole  rhetorical  arsenal.  He  wheedled, 
he  menaced,  he  insinuated.  "Wliy  do  you  not 
come?"  he  queried  in  Latin.  "The  cardinal  expects 
you,  and  will  treat  you  indulgently.  The  whole 
matter  lies  in  six  little  letters :  Kevoca,  retract. 
Come,  you  have  nothing  to  fear." 

'•'  I  will  appear  as  soon  as  I  receive  the  safe-con- 
duct," was  the  imperturbable  reply. 

At  this  Urban  completely  lost  his  temper.  He 
turned  to  congenial  insults :  "  You  imagine,  no 
doubt,  that  the  elector  will  take  up  arms  in  your 
defence,  and  for  your  sake  run  the  risk  of  losing 
those  territories  which  his  ancestors  have  bequeathed 
to  him." 

"  God  forbid,"  fervently  ejaculated  Luther. 

"  When  all  forsake  you,  where  will  you  take 
refuge  ?"  was  the  taunting  demand. 

Luther  surpassed  himself  in  his  reply  to  this 
speech.  Infusing  the  poetry  of  Isaiah  and  the 
spirit  of  the  martyrs  into  his  words,  he  said  slowly 
and  simply,  "  Under  Heaven  !" 

Even  the  insolence  of  Serra  Longa  was  struck 
dumb  by  the  grandeur  of  this  unexpected  eloquence. 

But  soon  recovering  himself,  he  rejoined,  "What 
would  you  do  if  you  held  the  legate,  the  pope,  and 
the  cardinals  in  your  hands,  as  they  have  you  now 
in  theirs  ?" 

"I  would  treat  them  with  the  utmost  respect 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  263 

and  honor,"  said  the  truthful  Augustine  ;  "  but  with 
me,  the  word  of  God  is  before  every  thing." 

"  So,"  said  Serra  Longa  incredulously,  and 
waving  his  hand  in  the  Italian  manner ;  he  then 
abruptly  departed,  to  return  no  more.* 

And  this  brought  Luther  to  the  evening  of  the 
third  day,  and  was  the  petty  skirmish  which  ushered 
in  the  battle  with  the  cardinal  himself. 

In  the  evening  he  wrote  Melancthon  a  minute 
account  of  all  that  had  occurred,  addiug  these 
words  :  "  Show  yourself  a  man,  as  you  do  at  all 
times.  Teach  our  beloved  youth  what  is  upright 
and  acceptable  to  God.  As  for  me,  I  am  perhaps 
soon  to  be  sacrificed  for  you  and  for  them.  I  bow 
to  God's  will.  I  would  rather  die,  and  even — 
which  would  be  my  greatest  earthly  misfortune — be 
for  ever  deprived  of  your  sweet  societj-,  than  retract 
what  I  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  teach ;  and  thus 
ruin  perhaps,  by  my  own  fault,  the  excellent  studies 
to  which  we  are  now  devoting  ourselves. 

"  Italy,  like  Egypt  in  times  of  old,  is  plunged  in 
darkness  so  thick  that  it  may  be  felt.  No  one  in 
that  country  knows  any  thing  of  Christ,  or  of  what 
belongs  to  him ;  and  yet  they  are  our  lords  and 
masters  in  faith  and  morals.  Thus  the  wrath  of 
God  is  fulfilled  among  us,  as  the  prophet  says:  / 
tvill  give  children  to  be  their  j9ri?z(?es,  and  hahes  shall 
rule  over  v  them.  Do  your  duty  to  God,  my  dear 
Philip,  and  avert  his  anger  by  pure  and  fervent 
prayer."t 

*  Luther's  Pitef.  f  L.  Epp.  I.,  UG. 


264  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

On  Tuesday,  tlie  eleventh  of  October,  the  safe- 
conduct  arrived.  Luther  instantly  repaired  to  the 
legate's  palace,  accompanied  by  Link,  his  Augus- 
tine friend  Leonard,  and  by  Froscli  his  host,  and 
the  prior  of  the  CarmeUtes. 

They  found  the  legate  surrounded  by  his  Italian 
and  German  satellites,  and  occupied  in  settling  the 
mode  of  procedure  in  his  case. 

This  formidable  churchman,  who  now  seemed  to 
hold  Luther's  fate  in  his  hands,  was  ill-fitted  both 
by  nature  and  education  to  arbitrate  in  this  nice 
and  perilous  controversy. 

Cajetan,  whose  original  name  of  Thomas  De  Vio 
seems  to  have  been  merged  in  his  prelatical  title, 
derived  from  Cajeta,  his  native  village,  was  exces- 
sively superstitious,  entertained  the  most  lofty  ideas 
of  the  papal  supremacy,  and  was  an  enthusiastic 
disciple  of  Aquinas  and  the  schoolmen. 

He  had  recently  written  a  work  on  the  power  of 
the  Koman  pontiff,  which  is  said  to  have  procured 
for  him  the  arch-episcopal  see  of  Palermo,  and  a 
cardinal's  hat.^"  Added  to  all  this  he  was  a  Domin- 
ican, and  in  consequence  the  declared  enemy  of  the 
"Wittemberg  theology. 

Leo's  choice  of  this  legate  to  reconcile  these 
serious  troubles,  certainly  cannot  be  quoted  as  evi- 
dence of  his  wisdom  or  discretion. 

Upon  coming  into  the  cardinal  legate's  presence, 
Luther,  taking  his  cue  from  Serra  Longa,  prostrated 
himself,  and  when  bidden  to  arise,  he  knelt;  and 
»  Milner,  Cli.  Hist.,  vol.  II..  p,  232. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  265 

remained  in  that  posture  until  a  second  order  from 
Cajetan  caused  liim  to  stand  up. 

Tliis  humility  caused  Cajetan  to  imagine  that 
Luther's  submission  would  be  speedy  and  complete. 
He  was  incompetent  to  measure  the  moral  stature 
of  the  Saxon  monk.  Luther's  very  determination 
to  adhere  to  his  tenets  until  convinced  of  their  error 
made  him  anxious  to  waive  all  other  points,  and  to 
exhibit  his  humility  even  by  the  most  scrupulous 
observance  of  the  absurd  and  slavish  punctilio  of 
the  Roman  court. 

After  Luther  had  arisen,  as  the  legate  remained 
silent,  the  Wittemberg  doctor  interpreted  this  con- 
duct into  an  invitation  to  commence  the  conversa- 
tion himself.     Standing  forward  a  step,  he  said, 

"  Most  worthy  father,  in  obedience  to  tlie  sum- 
mons of  his  papal  holiness,  and  in  compliance  with 
the  orders  of  my  gracious  lord  the  elector  of  Saxo- 
ny, I  appear  before  you  as  a  submissive  and  dutiful 
son  of  the  holy  Christian  church,  and  acknowledge 
that  I  have  published  the  propositions  and  theses 
ascribed  to  me.  I  am  ready  to  listen  most  obedi- 
ently to  my  accusation,  and  if  I  have  erred,  to  sub- 
mit to  instruction  in  the  truth." 

Cajetan  was  still  more  confident  of  an  easy  vic- 
tory over  this  formidable  heresiarch  on  hearing  this 
address.  Accordingly,  assuming  the  tone  and  air  of 
a  compassionate  father,  he  replied, 

"  My  dear  son,  j'ou  have  disturbed  all  Germany 
by  your  dispute  on  indulgences.  I  understand  that 
you  arc  a  very  learned  doctor  in  the  Holy  Scril' 

I.utticr.  12 


26G  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

tures,  and  that  you  have  many  followers.  For  this 
reason,  if  you  desire  to  be  a  member  of  the  church, 
and  to  find  a  gracious  father  in  the  pope,  listen 
to  me. 

"  Here  are  three  articles,"  continued  Cajetan, 
23lacing  his  hand  upon  a  bundle  of  manuscripts, 
"  which,  by  the  command  of  our  holy  father  pope 
Leo  X.,  I  have  to  set  before  you.  First,  you  must 
bethink  yourself,  own  your  faults,  and  retract  your 
errors,  propositions,  and  sermons.  Second,  you 
must  promise  to  abstain  in  future  from  propagat- 
ing similar  opinions.  Third,  you  are  to  bind  your- 
self to  behave  Avitli  greater  moderation,  and  to  avoid 
every  thing  that  may  grieve  or  disturb  the  church." 

Luther  then  said,  "  Most  holy  father,  I  beg  that 
you  will  sliow  me  the  pope's  brief  by  virtue  of  which 
you  have  received  full  powers  to  treat  of  this  mat- 
ter." 

Tliis  request  astonished  the  courtiers  of  the 
legate's  train.  To  their  minds  it  was  a  mark  of 
impudence  that  a  man  who  was  about  to  be  tried 
upon  the  gravest  of  charges,  and  Avhere,  to  all  ap- 
pearances, an  adverse  verdict  would  be  so  crush- 
ingly  ruinous,  should  request  to  see  the  creden- 
tials of  his  judge.  "  But  those  who  habitually 
act  in  an  arbitrary  manner,"  remarks  an  eminent 
writer,  "  are  usually  surprised  when  they  are  called 
upon  to  proceed  according  to  the  customary  rules, 
formalities,  and  laws," 

But  Cajetan,  who  preserved  his  placid  demeanor, 
replied, 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.     '        .     267 

"This  request,  my  clear  sou,  cauuot  be  granted.* 
You  must  confess  your  errors,  keep  a  strict  watch 
upon  your  words  for  the  future,  and  not  return  like 
a  dog  to  his  vomit,  so  that  we  may  sleep  without 
anxiety  or  disturbance  ;t  then,  in  accordance  with 
the  order  and  authorization  of  our  most  holy  father 
the  pope,  I  will  arrange  the  whole  business." 

"  Condescend  then,"  rejoined  Luther,  "  to  inform 
me  in  what  1  have  erred." 

Cajetan  condescended  to  comj^ly  with  this  re- 
quest, and  he  even  entered  into  discussion  with  the 
Augustine. 

"  Most  dear  son,"  he  said,  "  here  are  two  prop- 
ositions which  have  beei3,  as  I  am  informed,  fre- 
quently advanced  by  you,  and  which  you  must 
retract  before  all.  First,  the  treasure  of  indul- 
gences does  not  consist  of  the  sufferings  and  merits 

«  ' '  This  important  circumstance  is  not  taken  notice  of  by  the 
ecclesiastical  historians,  though  I  find  Liither  himself,  in  his  cel- 
ebrated letter  to  the  elector  of  Saxony,  written  after  the  confer- 
ence with  Cajetan,  uses  the  words,  'nam  exemplar  brevis  petenti 
denegabat.'  It  is  easy  enough  to  understand  why  the  legate,  who 
was  affecting  to  treat  Luther  with  the  greatest  kindness,  should 
not  choose  to  show  him  a  brief  in  which  it  appeared  that,  at  that 
very  moment,  he  stood  condemned  as  a  heretic  at  Rome,  though 
he  had  never  been  heard.  On  a  view  of  all  the  circumstances, 
it  seems  by  no  means  improbable  that  the  cardinal,  pursuant  to 
his  instructions,  was  intending  to  make  the  poor  heretic  a  pris- 
oner, notwithstanding  the  emperor's  safe-conduct.  But  a  sight  of 
the  brief  could  not  have  failed  to  alarm  and  put  on  his  guard  any 
man  in  so  critical  a  situation."  Milner,  Ch.  Hist.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  232, 
note. 

t  The  ability  "to  sleep  without  anxiety  or  disturbance"  seems 
to  have  been,  with  this  inflated  prelate,  as  with  the  whole  Eoman 
church,  the  great  desideratum. 


268  THE   LIFE  AND  TIMES 

of  Jesus  Christ,  Second,  the  man  who  receives 
the  holy  sacrament  must  have  faitli,  in  the  grace 
that  is  presented  to  him." 

"Each  of  these  propositions,"  remarks  a  cele- 
brated historian  in  treating  of  this  very  discussion, 
"  in  truth  struck  a  mortal  blow  at  the  Eomish  com- 
merce. If  the  pope  had  not  the  power  of  dispens- 
ing at  his  pleasure  the  merits  of  the  Saviour ;  if,  in 
receiving  the  drafts  which  the  brokers  of  the  church 
negotiated,  men  did  not  receive  a  portion  of  this 
infinite  righteousness,  this  paper  money  would  lose 
its  value,  and  become  as  worthless  as  a  heap  of 
rags. 

"  It  was  the  same  with  the  sacraments.  Indul- 
gences were  more  or  less  an  extraordinary  branch 
of  Roman  commerce  ;  the  sacraments  were  a  staple 
commodity.  The  revenue  they  produced  was  of  no 
small  amount.  To  assert  that /VuVA  was  necessary 
before  they  could  confer  a  real  benefit  on  the  soul 
of  a  Christian,  took  away  all  their  charms  in  the 
eyes  of  the  people  ;  for  it  is  not  the  pope  who  gives 
faith ;  it  is  beyond  his  province ;  it  proceeds  from 
God  alone.  To  declare  its  necessity  was  therefore 
depriving  Home  both  of  the  speculation  and  the 
profit.  By  attacking  these  two  doctrines,  Luther 
had  imitated  Jesus  Christ,  who  at  the  very  begin- 
ning of  his  ministry  had  overthrown  the  tables  of 
the  money-changers,  and  driven  the  dealers  out  of 
the  temple.  '  Make  not  my  Father's  house  a  house 
of  merchandise,'  he  said."- 

*  D'Aiabigne,  Vol.  L,  pp.  381,  382. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  -269 

Cajetan  at  ouce  grappled  with  these  heresies. 
Luther's  first  proposition  he  combated  by  this  ex- 
travaganzcC^  of  Pope  Clement :  "  One  drop  of  Christ's 
blood  being  sufficient  to  redeem  the  whole  human 
race,  the  remaining  quantity  that  was  shed  in  the 
garden  and  upon  the  cross  was  left  as  a  legacy  to 
the  church,  to  be  a  treasure  eeom  whence  indul- 
gences were  to  be  drawn  and  administered  by  the 
Roman  pontiffs. "f 

The  Saxon  doctor's  second  proposition  the  legate 
attempted  to  answer  by  profuse  quotations  from 
Aquinas,  Aristotle,  and  the  mediaeval  schoolmen. 

The  Augustine  monk  had  for  some  time  past 
been  too  enlightened  to  digest  such  wild  inveutious 
and  blasphemous  superstitions.  He  could  not  but 
hold  in  supreme  contempt  the  logical  powers  and 
perverted  ingenuity  of  this  inflated  churchman,  who 
could  demand  that  he  should  renounce  the  majestic 
tenets  of  his  theology  upon  such  frivolous  pretexts. 

Still  it  required  extraordinary  courage  to  make 
a  formal  protest  against  a  system  which,  like  that  of 
Cajetan,  was  established  by  the  highest  ecclesias- 
tical authority,  and  which  was  also  generally  be- 
lieved to  be  dictated  by  an  infallible  judgment. 

After  listening  patiently  to  the  jargon  of  the 
legate,  Luther  exclaimed,  "  I  cannot  receive  these 
extravaganzas  and  a  mere  scholastic  dictum  as  au- 
thority in  these  vital  questions  of  Christian  ethics. 

*    A  name  upplied  to  certain  papal  decrees  collected  and  sub- 
joined to  the  body  of  tlie  canon  law. 

t  Maclain  in  Mosheim,  Vol.  II.,  Chap.  II. 


270  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

They  pervert  the  holy  Scriptures,  and  never  quote 
them  to  the  purpose." 

"  My  son,"  said  the  cardinal,  "  the  pope  has 
power  and  authority  over  all  things." 

"  Except  the  Scriptures,"  interrupted  Luther. 

"Except  the  Scriptures!"  sneered  the  legate. 
"  Do  you  not  know  that  the  pope  is  above  the 
councils,  the  canons,  and  the  parchment  of  the 
ScrijDtures  ?  He  has  recently  condemned  and  pun- 
ished the  Council  of  Basle." 

"  But  I  understand  that  the  university  of  Paris 
has  appealed  from  this  sentence,"  remarked  Luther. 

Cajetan  now  for  the  first  time  lost  his  temper. 
He  declared  that  the  Parisian  savans  would  be  duly 
jjunished,  and  that  the  celebrated  chancellor  Ger- 
son,  who  had  previously  maintained  at  Constance 
the  doctrine  that  the  authority  of  a  general  council 
was  superior  to  that  of  the  pontiff,  and  whose  writ- 
ings Luther  had  quoted,  was  damned,  together  with 
all  his  adherents.* 

So  extravagantly  high,  says  Milner,  were  the 
ideas  of  the  papal  power  conceived  by  this  cardi- 
nal, that  even  the  very  moderate  contradiction  given 
in  France  to  the  pontiff  appeared  in  his  eyes  to  be 
an  unpardonable  sin.  Little  did  he  then  imagine 
how  much  more  openly  his  magnificent  master 
was  to  be  opposed  within  the  short  space  of  a  few 
months. 

Luther  defended  with  the  most  unbending  zeal 
the  article  of  justification  by  faith,  citing  the  Scrip- 
«  Milner/ Ch.  Hist.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  233. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  271 

tures  with  marvellous  aj)tness  to  sustain  his  posi- 
tion. "  As  for  indulgences,"  he  said,  "  if  it  can  be 
sho^\n  that  I  am  mistaken,  I  am  very  ready  to  re- 
ceive instruction.  We  may  pass  that  over,  and  still 
be  good  Christians.  But  as  to  the  article  of  faith, 
if  I  made  the  slightest  concession  I  should  renounce 
Jesus  Christ.  That  I  cannot,  I  will  not  yield ;  but 
I  will  maintain  it  Avith  my  dying  breath." 

Cajetan,  foiled  in  this  verbal  fence,  once  more 
lost  his  temper,  and  throwing  himself  back  upon 
his  dignity,  he  replied  severel}^,  "  Whether  joxi  wdll 
or  no,  you  must  retract  that  article  this  verj^  day, 
or  upon  that  article  p,lone  I  shall  reject  and  con- 
demn your  whole  doctrine." 

"Do  as  you  wish,"  returned  the  monk,  "I  have 
no  will  but  God's.  Let  him  do  with  me  as-  seemeth 
good  to  him.  But  if  I  had  four  hundred  heads,  I 
would  rather  lose  them  all  than  retract  the  testi- 
mony which  I  have  borne  to  the  holy  Christian 
faith." 

"  Well,"  said  the  curt  legate,  "  I  did  not  come 
here  to  dispute  with  you.  Retract,  or  prepare  to 
hear  your  sentence." 

Luther  at  this  stage  desirous  to  consult  with  his 
friends,  and  also  finding  that  not  the  slightest  prog- 
ress was  made  by  this  random  conversation,  and 
that  the  legate's  promises  of  kind  treatment  and 
conciliation  amounted  to  this,  "  Becant,  or  be  pun- 
ished," now  wisely  determined  to  retire  for  the  day, 
and  to  commit  his  replies  to  writing.  "  In  so  doing," 
he  said,  "the  oppressed  find  double  gain :  first,  what 


272  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

is  written  may  be  submitted  to  the  judgment  of  oth- 
ers ;  and  second,  one  has  a  better  chance  of  work- 
ing on  the  fears,  if  not  on  tlie  conscience  of  an  arro- 
gant and  babbling  despot,  who  would  otherwise  over- 
power by  his  imperious  language."* 

Another  interview  was  appointed  for  the  next 
da}',  and  Luther  was  suffered  to  depart. 

Cajetan,  who  was  accounted  the  most  learned, 
ingenious,  and  able  of  the  Dominicans,  lost  caste 
terribly  in  Luther's  estimation  by  this  day's  tussle. 
Next  after  him  ranked  Prierias.  "  We  may  con- 
clude from  this,"  wrote  the  Saxon  monk's  satirical 
pen,  "  what  they  must  be  who  are  in  the  tenth  or 
the  hundredth  rank."t 

Upon  reaching  the  Carmelite  monastery,  Luther 
was  very  agreeably  surprised  to  find  Dr.  Staupitz 
awaiting  his  return.  The  vicar-general  anxiously 
inquired  how  the  affair  then  stood,  and  upon  being 
apprized  by  his  iwotege  of  the  legate's  arrogance  in 
insisting  upon  a  recantation  without  essaying  to 
convict  him  of  error,  Staupitz  remarked,  "  You  must 
positively  answer  him  in  writing." 

Satisfied  that  no  accommodation  would  be  ar- 
rived at,  and  anxious  that  Luther  should  go  into  the 
combat  as  unshackled  as  possible,  Staupitz  urged 
his  friend  to  permit  him  to  release  him  from  the 
monastic  obligations  of  his  order. 

The  vicar-general's  object  in  giving  this  counsel 
was  double :  if    the  Saxon  monk  should  be  con- 

*  Luther's  letter  to  the  elector  of  Saxony. 
tEpp.  I.,  173. 


OF  MARTIN   LUTHER.  273 

demned,  tlie  disgi'ace  would  not  fall  upon  the  Au- 
gustine brotlierhood ;  and  if  Cajetan  pressed  liim  to 
j'oYce  Luther,  as  his  ecclesiastical  inferior,  to  com- 
ply with  the  papal  requisition  and  recant,  he  would 
have  a  sufficient  excuse  for  asserting  his  inability 
to  act."' 

Thus  dark  and  sullen  closed  the  night  of  the 
11th  of  October,  1518,  upon  the  Augustinian,  exclud- 
ed from  his  order,  deserted  of  men,  and  strong  only 
in  the  inextinguishable  ardor  of  his  faith  in  God. 
*  Mathias,  15. 


12* 


274  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTER   XXIII. 

On  the  following  morning,  Wednesday,  October 
12th,  Luther,  on  descending  to  the  reception-room 
of  the  monastery,  was  surprised  and  strengthened 
by  finding  a  number  of  influential  friends  already 
assembled,  and  waiting  to  accompany  him  to  the 
second  interview  with  the  legate. 

After  exchanging  affectionate  greetings  with 
these  friends  in  need,  Peutinger,  and  the  dean  of 
Trent,  of  the  imperial  council.  Dr.  Staupitz,  and  two 
of  the  elector's  councillors.  Dr.  Kuhel  and  Philip  of 
FeiHtzsch,  who  had  come  to  Augsburg'  by  their 
prince's  order  to  attend  the  conferences,  and  to  pro- 
tect Luther's  liberty,  started  in  a  body  for  the  leg- 
ate's audience-room. 

Upon  their  arrival,  and  after  going  through  the 
usual  ceremonious  routine,  Luther  stepped  forward 
and  read  this  declaration  : 

"  I  declare  that  I  honor  the  holy  Boman  church, 
and  that  I  shall  continue  to  honor  her.  I  have 
sought  after  truth  in  my  public  disjjutations,  and 
every  thing  that  I  have  said  I  still  regard  as  right, 
true,  and  Christian.  Yet  I  am  but  a  man.  and  may 
be  deceived.  I  am  therefore  willing  to  receive  in- 
struction and  correction  in  those  things  wherein  I 
may  have  erred. 

"  I  declare  myself  ready  to  reply  orally  or  in 


or  MARTIN  LUTHER.  275 

writing  to  all  the  objections  and.  charges  that  the 
lord  legate  may  bring  against  me.  I  declare  my- 
self ready  to  submit  my  theses  to  the  four  univer- 
sities of  Basle,  Fribourg  in  Brisgau,  Louvain,  and 
Paris,  and  to  retract  whatever  they  shall  declare 
erroneous.  In  a  word,  I  am  ready  to  do  all  that  can 
be  required  of  a  Christian.  But  I  solemnly  peotest 
against  the  method  pursued  in  this  affair,  and 
against  the  strange  pretension  of  compelling  me  to 
retract  without  having  refuted  me."^'" 

"  This  protest,"  returned  Cajetan,  "  is  unneces- 
sary. I  have  no  desire  to  dispute  with  you  either 
publicly  or  privately,  but  I  propose  arranging  this 
difficulty  with  parental  kindness.  In  order  to  that, 
my  dear  friend,  abandon,  I  beseech  you,  so  useless 
an  undertaking ;  bethink  yourself,  acknowledge  your 
error,  and  I  am  prepared  to  reconcile  you  with  the 
church,  and  with  the  sovereign  bishop.  Ketract, 
such  is  the  pope's  wish.  Whether  you  will,  or 
Avhether  you  will  not,  is  of  little  consequence.  It 
would  be  a  hard  matter  for  you  to  kick  against  the 
pricks." 

To  this  special  j)lea  of  the  prelate  Luther  re- 
plied, "  I  cannot  retract ;  but  I  offer  to  reply,  and 
that  too  in  writing.  We  had  battling  enough  yes- 
terday." 

Cajetan  was  irritated  at  this  expression,  and  he 

rejoined  somewhat  heatedly,  ^'  Dehated  !  I  have  not 

debated.     I  have  no  wish  to  debate  ;  but  to  please 

the  most  serene  Elector  Frederick,  I  am  ready  to 

*  Loscher,  IL,  463  ;  L.  0pp.  (L.,)  XVII.,  181-209. 


276  THE  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

listen  to  yoii,  and  to  exliort  you  iu  a  friendly  and 
paternal  manner." 

The  cardinal  now,  says  D'Aubigne,  felt  that  in 
the  presence  of  respectable  witnesses  he  must  ap- 
pear anxious  to  convince  Luther;  he  therefore  re- 
verted to  the  two  propositions  which  he  had  pointed 
out  previously,  and  being  firmly  resolved  to  permit 
the  reformer  to  argue  as  little  as  possible,  availed 
himself  of  his  Italian  volubility,  and  overwhelmed 
the  doctor  with  objections  without  waiting  for  any 
reply.  At  one  time  he  jeered,  at  another  he  scolded ; 
he  declaimed  with  passionate  warmth  ;  mingled  to- 
gether the  most  heterogeneous  matters ;  quoted  St. 
Thomas  and  Aristotle ;  clamored,  stormed  against 
all  who  thought  differently  from  himself,  and  apos- 
trophized Luther.  Ten  times  did  the  latter  under- 
take to  speak,  but  the  legate  immediately  inter- 
rupted him,  and  overwhelmed  him  with  threats. 
Retract,  retract ;  this  was  all  that  was  required  of 
him.  He  raved,  he  domineered,  he  alone  was  per- 
mitted to  speak. 

Staujjitz  took  upon  himself  to  check  the  legate. 
"Pray  allow  brother  Martin  time  to  reply  to  you," 
said  he.  But  De  Vio  began  again  ;  he  requoted  the 
extravaganzas  and  th^  opinions  of  Aquinas  ;  he  had 
resolved  to  have  all  the  talk  to  himself  during  this 
interview.  If  he  could  not  convince,  and  if  he 
dared  not  strike,  he  would  do  his  best  to  stun  by 
his  violence.* 

Seeing  the  futility  of  this  method  of  argument, 

*  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  I. ,  p.  389. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  277 

where  one  side  scolded,  fumed,  and  threatened  ad 
libitum,  while  the  other  was  compelled  by  the  volu- 
bility of  this  male  Xantippe  to  keep  silent,  Luther 
requested  that  he  might  be  permitted  in  future  to 
respond  wholly  in  writing.  This  Cajetan  was  un- 
willing to  grant,  but  Staupitz's  interference  at  length 
prevailed  upon  him  to  accede. 

AVitli  this  understanding  the  conference  Avas 
adjourned  over  to  the  day  following  the  morrow. 

On  Friday,  the  14th  inst.,  Luther,  accompanied 
by  his  retinue  of  friends,  again  confronted  the  car- 
dinal-legate. 

He  had  drawn  up  a  formal  protest ;  this  he  now 
read : 

"  You  attack  me  on  two  points :  First,  you  op- 
pose to  me  the  extravaganza  of  pope  Clement  VI., 
in  which  it  is  said  that  the  treasure  of  indulgences 
is  the  merit  of  Jesus  Christ  and  the  saints — which  I 
deny  in  my  theses. 

"  Panormitanius*  declares,  in  his  first  book,  that 
in  whatever  concerns  the  holy  faith,  not  only  a  gen- 
eral council,  but  still  further,  each  heliever  is  above 
the  pope  if  he  can  bring  forward  the  declarations  of 
Scrij)ture  and  allege  better  reasons  than  the  pope. 
The  voice  of  Christ  is  far  aboye  the  voice  of  all  men, 
whatever  be  the  names  they  bear. 

"  My  greatest  cause  of  grief  and  of  serious  re- 
flection is,  that  this  extravaganza  of  Clement  con- 
tains doctrines  entirely  at  variance  with  the  truth. 

*  Jus,  bishop  of  Chartres,  compiler  of  a  digest  of  ecclesiastical 
law  called  Panormia  ;  lie  flourished  iu  the  eleventh  century. 


278  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

It  declares  that  the  merits  of  the  saiuts  are  a  treas- 
ure, wliile  the  whole  of  KScripture  bears  witness  that 
God  rewards  us  far  more  richly  than  we  deserve. 
The  prophet  exclaims,  Enter  not  into  judgment  with 
thy  servant,  0  Lord ;  for  in  thy  sight  shall  no  man 
living  he  justified.*  '  "Woe  be  to  men,  however  hon- 
orable, and  however  praiseworthy  their  lives  may 
have  been,'  says  Augustine,  '  if  a  judgment  from 
which  mercy  was  excluded  should  be  pronounced 
upon  them.'t 

"  Thus  the  saints  themselves  are  not  saved  by 
their  merits,  but  solely  by  God's  mercy,  as  I  have 
declared.  I  maintain  this,  and  in  it  I  stand  fast. 
The  words  of  holy  Scripture,  which  declare  that  the 
saints  have  not  merit  enough,  must  be  set  above  the 
words  of  men,  which  affirm  that  they  have  an  ex- 
cess. For  the  pope  is  not  above  the  word  of  God, 
but  below  it. 

"  In  the  second  place,  I  affirm  that  no  man  can 
be  justified  before  God  if  he  has  not  faith,  so  that 
it  is  necessary  for  a  man  to  believe  with  a  perfect 
assurance  that  he  has  obtained  grace.  To  doubt 
of  this  grace  is  to  reject  it.  The  faith  of  the  righteous 
is  his  righteousness  and  his  life."'\. 

And  this  proposition  Luther  fortified  impreg- 
nably  by  multitudinous  citations  of  Scripture. 

But  the  haughty  churchman,  on  being  handed 
this  remarkably  able  and  succinct  argumentative 
protest,  tossed  it  aside  contemptuously,  merely  ob- 

*  Psalm  CXLin.  t  Confess.  IX. 

t  Justitia  justi  et  vita  ejus,  est  fides  ejus.     L.  0pp.  Lat.  I.,  211. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  279 

serving,  "  Yoii  have  indulged  in  useless  verbiage  ; 
you  have  penned  many  idle  words ;  you  have  re- 
plied in  a  very  foolish  manner  to  the  two  articles, 
and  have  blackened  your  paper  with  a  great  num- 
ber of  irrelevant  passages  of  Scripture ;"  and  so  he 
ran  on,  mistaking  epithets  for  argument,  and  when 
he  could  not  answer,  satisfying  himself  with  abus- 
ing. 

But  Luther  checked  that  volubility  which  had 
kept  him  silent  at  the  previous  interview,  and 
raising  his  own  sonorous  voice  and  imitating  the 
rapid  utterance  of  the  Italian,  he  poured  in  upon 
the  astonished  cardinal  such  a  terrific  broadside  of 
fact,  citation,  satire,  and  logic  as  soon  sufficed  to 
drive  him  from  his  controversial  guns. 

The  legate  noAV  had  recourse  alone  to  threats. 
"  Retract,"  he  kept  repeating,  "  retract,  or  if  you  do 
not  I  shall  send  you  to  Rome  to  appear  before 
judges  commissioned  to  take  cognizance  of  your 
aft'air.  I  shall  excommunicate  you  with  all  your 
partisans.,  with  all  who  are,  or  who  may  be  favor- 
able to  you,  and  eject  them  from  the  church. 

"  Think  you  that  your  protectors  will  restrain 
me  ?  Think  you  that  the  pope  cares  any  thing  for 
Germany  ?  The  pope's  little  finger  is  stronger  than 
all  the  German  princes  put  together."*  Thus  sput- 
tered the  infuriated  cardinal. 

Luther,  on  his  part,  calmly  said,  "  Deign  to  for- 
ward to  pope  Leo  X.,  with  my  humble  prayers,  the 
answer  which  I  have  transmitted  to  you  in  writing." 
*  L.  Opp.  (L.,)  XVII. ,  197. 


280  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Tliis  Cajetan  said  lie  would  do;  he  then  added, 
"Instantly  retract,  or  return  no  more."" 

Luther  bowed,  and  with  his  train  swept  out  of  the 
council  chamber. 

"Thus,"  says  D'Aubign6,  "the  Dominican  sys- 
tem, covered  with  the  brilliancy  of  the  Roman  purple, 
had  haughtily  dismissed  its  humble  adversary.  But 
Luther  was  conscious  that  he  was  a  power — the 
Christian  doctrine,  the  truth — that  no  secular  or 
spiritual  authority  could  ever  subdue.  Of  the  two 
combatants,  he  who  withdrew  remained  master  of 
the  field  of  battle."t 

Luther  had  not  been  long  gone  when  Cajetan, 
regretting  his  violence,  and  fearful  of  utter  failure 
in  this  mission  as  in  the  preceding  one  to  the  im- 
perial diet,  sent  for  Staupitz;  and  when  the  vicar- 
general  appeared,  accompanied  by  Dr.  Link  of 
Nuremberg,  dismissing  all  his  courtiers  save  only 
Serra  Longa,  the  solicitous  churchman  approached 
and  said  mildly,  "  My  dear  Staupitz,  prevail  upon 
your  monk,  and  induce  him  to  recant.  Really  in 
other  respects  I  am  well  pleased  with  him,  and  wish 
him  well." 

To  this  exhortation  Staupitz  replied,  "  I  have 
already  done  my  utmost,  and  I  will  again  endeavor 
to  persuade  him  to  submit." 

"You  must  answer  his  arguments,"  said  the 
legate. 

"  That,  my  lord,"  quickly  returned  the  vicar-gen- 

*  "Kevoca,  aut  non  livertere. "    L.  0pp.  (L.,)  XVII.,  197. 
t  D'Aiibigue,  Vol.  I.,  p.  395. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  281 

eral,  "  I  must  confess  to  be  beyond  my  abilities ;  for 
Doctor  Martin  Luther  is  my  superior,  both  in  genius 
and  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures." 

The  cardinal  smiled,  and  then  added  severely,  ad- 
dressing both  Staupitz  and  Link,  "  Are  you  aware, 
that  as  partisans  of  an  heretical  doctrine,  you  are 
yourselves  liable  to  all  the  penalties  of  the  church  ?" 

"Condescend,"  rejoined  Staupitz  evasively,  "to 
resume  the  conference  with  Luther,  and  order  a  pub- 
lic discussion  on  the  controverted  points." 

To  this  Cajetan  hastily,  almost  fearfully  replied, 
"  I  will  no  longer  dispute  with  that  beast,  for  it  has 
deep  eyes  and  wonderful  speculation  in  its  head!"* 

The  only  concession  that  Staupitz  could  j^er- 
suade  the  legate  to  make,  was  to  transmit  to  Luther 
an  explicit  declaration  in  writing  of  what  he  was 
required  to  retract. 

Armed  with  this  document,  Staupitz,  wdio  v^as 
naturally  of  a  timid  and  pacific  disposition,  and  upon 
whose  nature  the  cunning  cardinal  had  played  with 
rare  skill,  sped  to  the  CarmeUte  monastery,  and  be- 
sought Luther  to  come  to  terms  wdth  Cajetan. 

"  Refute  then,"  said  Luther,  "  my  propositions." 

"  I  am  not  able,"  retorted  the  vicar-general. 

"  Well,  then,"  resumed  the  Saxon  doctor,  "  it  is 
against  my  conscience  to  retract,  so  long  as  these 
passages  of  Scripture  are  not  explained  differently. 
What!  the  cardinal  professes,  as  you  inform  me, 
that  he  is  desirous  of  arranging  this  affair  without 
any  disgrace  or  detriment  to  me.  Ah.  these  are 
*  Mycouiiis,  p.  33. 


282  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

Roman  expressions,  wliicli  signify  in  good  German 
that  it  would  be  my  eternal  shame  and  ruin.  What 
else  can  he  expect  who,  through  fear  of  men  and 
against  the  voice  of  liis  conscience,  denies  the 
truth?"* 

Staupitz  did  not  press  the  matter,  but  content- 
ing himself  with  begging  Luther  to  treat  the  cardi- 
nal Avitli  all  deference,  and  to  preserve  the  suaviter 
in  modo  with  the  fortitei'  in  re,  took  his  departure; 
^informing  his  friend,  however,  that  he  would  see 
him  again  ere  quitting  Augsburg. 

Luther  now  determined  to  write  to  his  court 
friend  Spalatin  a  minute  account  of  the  conference 
with  Cajetan,  and  to  request  him  to  lay  the  most 
important  portion  of  his  letter  before  their  gracious 
prince  the  elector,  for  his  aj)proval  or  condemna- 
tion. "  This,"  wrote  he  at  the  conclusion  of  his  suc- 
cinct report — "  this  is  the  present  posture  of  affairs, 
but  I  have  neither  hope  nor  confidence  in  the  legate. 
I  will  not,  unconvinced,  retract  a  syllable;  but  I 
shall  publish  the  reply  I  gave  him,  in  order  that,  if 
he  should  now  resort  to  violence,  Christendom  may 
hoot  him."t 

Luther's  thoughts  next  turned  to  his  dear  Wit- 
temberg ;  his  heart  yearned  towards  his  associ- 
ates there,  and  he  again,  wearied  as  he  was  from 
the  composition  of  his  missive  to  Spalatin,  took  up 
his  pen  and  indited  this  noble  letter  to  Dr.  Carl- 
stadt : 

"  Accept,  dear  doctor,  these  few  words  as  if  they 

*  L.  0pp.  (L.)  XVII.,  210.  t  L-  EPP-  I-.  1^9. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEIl.  283 

were  a  long  letter,  for  time  and  events  are  pressing. 
At  a  better  opportunity  I  will  write  to  you  and 
others  more  fully.  Three  days  my  business  has 
been  in  hand,  and  matters  are  now  at  such  a  point 
that  I  have  no  longer  any  hope  of  returning  to  you, 
and  I  have  nothing  to  look  for  but  excommunica- 
tion. The  legate  positively  will  not  permit  me  to 
dispute  either  publicly  or  privately.  He  desires 
not  to  be  a  judge,  he  says,  but  a  father  to  me ;  and 
yet  he  will  hear  no  other  words  from  me  than  these  : 
'  I  retract,  and  acknowledge  my  error.'  These  I  will 
not  utter. 

"  The  dangers  of  my  cause  are  much  the  greater, 
that  its  judges  are  not  only  implacable  enemies, 
but,  still  further,  men  incapable  of  understanding- 
it.  Yet  the  Lord  God  lives  and  reigns :  to  his  pro- 
tection I  commit  myself,  and  I  doubt  not  that,  in 
answer  to  the  prayers  of  a  few  pious  souls,  he  will 
send  me  deliverance ;  I  imagine  I  feel  them  pray- 
ing for  me. 

"  Either  I  shall  return  tcT  you  without  having 
suffered  an}^  harm ;  or  else,  struck  with  excommuni- 
cation, I  shall  have  to  seek  a  refiige  elsewhere. 

"  However  that  may  be,  conduct  yourself  val- 
iantly, stand  fast,  and  glorify  Christ  boldly  and  joy- 
fully. 

"  The  cardinal  always  styles  me  Ms  dear  son.  I 
know  how  much  I  must  believe  of  that.  I  am, 
nevertheless,  persuaded  that  I  should  be  the  most 
acceptable  and  dearest  man  to  him  in  the  world,  if  I 
would  pronounce  the  single  word  revoco,  I  recant. 


284  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

But  I  will  not  become  indeed  a  heretic  by  renounc- 
ing tlie  faitli  by  wliicli  I  became  a  Christian ;  I  would 
rather  be  exiled,  accursed,  and  burnt  to  death. 

"  Farewell,  my  dear  doctor ;  show  this  letter  to 
our  theologians,  to  Amsdorff,  to  Philip,  to  Otten, 
and  the  rest,  in  order  that  you  may  pray  for  me, 
and  also  for  yourselves ;  for  it  is  your  cause  that  I 
am  pleading  here :  it  is  that  of  faith  in  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  and  in  the  grace  of  God."* 

Nobly  spoken,  servant  of  the  living  God.  Your 
words  ring  yet  through  the  centuries,  kindling  anew 
the  smouldering  faith  of  millions  wdio  worship  in 
that  church  based  on  your  protest.  Your  words  were 
not  vox,et  prceterea  nihil;  they  came  from  the  heart, 
and  a  man  stood  behind  them.  Your  actions  at 
this  memorable  conference  were  even  more  sublime 
than  your  language. 

In  the  evening  Staujiitz  returned,  accompanied 
by  Kuhel  and  the  knight  of  Frelitzsch,  the  elerctor's 
envoys. 

After  some  desultory  conversation,  Luther  pro- 
posed that  they  celebrate  the  Lord's  supper  to- 
gether, which  all  acceded  to.  Tliis  finished,  the 
envoys  departed,  and  Staupitz  also  announced  his 
determination  to  seek  safety  in  flight,  since  the  legate 
had  already  threatened  him  with  excommunication. 

Luther  said  that  he  should  remain  for  several 
days  at  least,  and  await  further  orders  from  the 
cardinal;  perhaps  he  might  even  reopen  negotia- 
tions with  him. 

*  L.  Epp.  I.,  159. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  285 

The  next  morning  Luther  anxiously  looked  for 
some  message  from  the  legate;  but  receiving  no 
word,  Dr.  Link,  at  his  request,  proceeded  to  Caje- 
tan's  residence,  and  asked  him  if  there  was  any 
word  for  his  friend. 

The  legate  received  Link  kindly;  informed  him 
that  Luther's  protest  had  been  presented  to  the 
pope  by  an  express,  and  that  meantime  he  should 
not  excommunicate  the  Augustine  monk,  but  give 
him  convincing  proof  of  his  friendship  by  withhold- 
ing his  sentence  until  he  got  word  from  Rome. 

On  returning  to  Luther,  Link  repeated  the 
legate's  soft  words,  and  all  agreed  that  this  sudden 
and  excessive  mildness  was  portentous.  "  The 
legate,"  said  one  of  the  imperial  councillors,  "  is 
preparing  some  mischief  by  this  courier  of  whom  he 
speaks ;  it  is  greatly  to  be  feared  that  you  will  all 
be  seized,  and  flung  into  the  dungeons  of  the  in- 
quisition." 

Staupitz  and  Link,  aware  of  their  inability  to  do 
any  thing  further,  and  naturally  desirous  to  secure 
their  safety,  quitted  Augsburg  that  very  evening ; 
but  Luther  remained  firmly  at  that  j^ost  which  duty 
called  him  to  occupy,  and  continued  to  trust  God. 

The  next  day  was  Sunday.  It  passed  ;  but  no 
message  came  from  the  legate.  To  a  man  of  Lu- 
ther's disposition,  this  utter  silence,  this  terriblo 
delay,  was  almost  insupportable.  He  therefore  de- 
termined to  write  Cajctan,  and  go  to  the  extreme 
verge  of  his  conscience  in  another  effort  to  accom- 
modate the  difficulty. 


286  THE  LIFE   AND  TIMES 

With  tLis  object  in  view,  he  wrote  the  following 
epistle  to  the  cardinal-legate  : 

"Most  woethy  Father  in  God — Once  more  I 
approach  you,  not  in  person,  but  by  letter,  en- 
treating your  paternal  goodness  to  hsten  to  me 
graciously.  The  reverend  Dr.  Staupitz,  my  very 
dear  father  in  Christ,  has  called  upon  me  to  humble 
myself,  to  renounce  my  own  sentiments,  and  to 
submit  my  opinions  to  the  judgment  of  pious  and 
impartial  men.  He  has  also  praised  your  fatherly 
kindness,  and  has  convinced  me  of  your  favorable 
disposition  towards  me.  This  news  has  filled  me 
with  joy. 

"  Now  therefore,  most  worthy  father,  I  confess — 
as  I  have  already  done  before — that  I  have  not 
shown,  as  has  been  reported,  sufficient  modesty, 
meekness,  or  respect  for  the  name  of  the  sovereign 
pontifl';  and  although  I  have  been  greatly  pro- 
voked, I  see  that  it  would  have  been  better  for  me 
to  have  conducted  my  cause  with  greater  humility, 
mildness,  and  reverence,  and  not  to  have  'answered 
a  fool  according  to  his  folly,  lest  I  should  be  like 
unto  him.' 

"  This  grieves  me  very  much,  and  I  ask  forgive- 
ness. I  will  publicly  confess  it  to  the  people  from 
the  pulpit,  as  indeed  I  have  already  often  done.  I 
Avill  endeavor,  by  God's  grace,  to  speak  differently. 
Nay,  more,  I  am  ready  to  promise,  freely  and  of 
my  own  accord,  not  to  utter  another  word  on  the 
subject  of  indulgences,  if  this  business  is  arranged. 
But  also  let  those  who  made  me  speak  be  com- 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  287 

pelled,  on  their  part,  to  be  more  moderate  hence- 
forth in  their  sermons,  or  to  be  silent. 

"As  for  the  truth  of  my  doctrine,  the  authority 
of  St.  Thomas  and  other  doctors  cannot  satisfy  me. 
I  must  hear,  if  I  am  worthy  to  do  so,  the  voice  of  the 
bride,  which  is  the  church.  For  it  is  certain  that  she 
hears  the  voice  of  the  Bridegroom,  which  is  Christ. 

"  In  all  humility  and  submission,  I  therefore  en- 
treat your  paternal  love  to  refer  all  this  business — 
so  unsettled  up  to  this  day — ^.to  our  most  holy  lord 
Leo  X.,  in  order  that  the  church  may  decide,  pro- 
nounce, and  ordain,  and  that  I  may  retract  with  a 
good  conscience,  or  believe  with  sincerity."* 

Luther  wrote  and  dispatched  this  conciliatory 
letter  on  Sunday,  the  16th  of  October. 

In  the  meantime  it  was  currently  reported  on  the 
streets,  that  the  ominous  silence  which  had  sudden- 
ly settled  upon  the  cardinal  and  his  garrulous  sat- 
ellites, covered  a  treacherous  plot  for  the  audacious 
monk's  speedy  arrest  and  fatal  imprisonment. 

Luther's  Augsburg  friends  hastened  to  him,  ad- 
vised him  to  draw  up  an  appeal  to  the  pope,  and 
afterwards  quit  that  dangerous  vicinage. 

Luther,  whose  presence  in  this  city  had  been 
useless  during  the  last  four  days,  and  who  had 
sufficiently  proved,  by  his  remaining  after  the  de- 
parture of  the  Saxon  councillors  sent  by  the  Elec- 
tor to  watch  over  his  safety,  that  he  feared  nothing, 
and  tliat  he  was  ready  to  answer  any  charge, 
yielded  at  length  to  his  friends'  solicitations. 
•  L.  0pp.  (L.)  p.  198. 


288  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

He  therefore  sat  down  and  wrote  this  last  letter 
to  the  legate  : 

"  Most  w^orthy  Father  in  God — Your  paternal 
kindness  has  witnessed — I  repeat  it — witnessed  and 
sufficiently  acknowledged  my  obedience.  I  have 
undertaken  a  long  journey,  through  great  dangers, 
in  great  weakness  of  body,  and  despite  of  my  ex- 
treme poverty,  at  the  command  of  our  most  holy 
father  Leo  X.;  I  have  appeared  in  person  before 
your  eminence ;  lastl}^,  I  have  thrown  myself  at  the 
feet  of  his  hohness,  and  I  now  wait  his  good  pleas- 
ure, ready  to  submit  to  his  judgment  whether  he 
should  condemn  or  acquit  me.  I  therefore  feel  that 
I  have  omitted  nothing  that  it  becomes  an  obedient 
child  of  the  church  to  do. 

"  I  think,  consequently,  that  I  ought  not  uselessly 
to  prolong  my  sojourn  in  this  town.  Besides,  it 
would  be  impossible.  My  resources  are  failing  me, 
and  your  paternal  goodness  has  loudly  forbidden 
me  to  appear  before  you  again  unless  I  will  re- 
tract. 

"  I  therefore  depart  in  the  name  of  the  Lord, 
desiring,  if  possible,  to  find  some  spot  where  I  may 
dwell  in  peace.  Many  persons  of  greater  impor- 
tance than  mj'self  have  requested  me  to  appeal 
from  your  paternal  kindness,  and  even  from  our 
most  holy  lord  Leo  X.  ill- inf armed,  to  the  ^Dope 
when  better  infornied.  Although  I  know  that  such 
an  appeal  will  be  far  more  acceptable  to  our  most 
serene  highness  the  Elector  than  a  retractation, 
nevertheless,  if  I  had  consulted  my  own  feelings 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  289 

/■ 

only,  I  should  not  have  clone  so.  I  have  committed 
no  fault;  I  ought  therefore  to  fear  notlimg." 

This  letter  written,  and  given  to  a  friend  to  be 
handed  to  Cajetan  after  his  departure,  on  "Wednes- 
day, October  19th,  before  daybreak  a  horse  was 
brought  to  the  door  of  the  Carmelite  monastery, 
and  Luther  mounted,  and,  provided  by  councillor 
Longemantel  with  an  order  to  pass  the  city  gates, 
hastily  quitted  Augsburg. 

A  strong  presentiment  of  the  dangers  which 
environed  him  urged  the  Saxon  doctor  to  press 
forward  with  the  utmost  speed,  and  he  rode  so  hard 
that,  on  stopping  at  night  to  rest,  he  fell,  in  leading- 
Ms  horse  to  the  stable,  prostrate  to  the  ground. 

Pausing  from  day  to  day  only  sufficiently  long 
to  gain  for  himself  aijd  his  horse  necessary  respite, 
Luther  continued  his  headlong  flight  towards  Wit- 
temberg,  whose  welcome  walls  he  finally  reached 
in  safety,  but  travel-worn  and  shattered  in  frame, 
on  the  30th  of  October,  eleven  days  after  his  de- 
parture from  Augsburg. 

He  had  been  recognized  all  along  the  route,  and 
had  been  the  recipient  of  the  warmest  and  most 
enthusiastic  cheer  from  the  sympathetic  masses 
whose  champion  he  was. 

That  Count  Mansfeldt  who  had  warned  him  of 
the  trap  to  waylay  him  on  the  road  to  the  confer- 
ence, received  him  most  cordially  on  his  passage 
homeward  through  his  country,  on  the  edg6  of  the 
Tlmringian  forests,  and  laughing  at  his  strange 
equipment — for   he  rode  without  boots  or  spurs — ■ 

Luther.  13 


290  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

compelled  liim  to  tarry  for  a  little  at  his  castle  for 
needed  repose,  and  dismissed  him  better  mounted 
and  accoutred." 

Such  was  the  result  of  Martin  Luther's  famous 
conference  with  the  cardinal-legate  Cajetan,  at 
Augsburg ;  such  were  the  deadly  perils  which  his 
genius  and  resolute  daring  enabled  him  for  the  mo- 
ment safely  to  surmount. 

"  Myconius. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  291 


CHAPTEE  XXIV. 

But  while  Luther  had  thus  escaped  from  the 
immediate  toils  of  the  Eoman  church,  the  enraged 
and  outwitted  cardinal,  upon  receiving  the  daring- 
monk's  last  letter  appealing  to  the  po]3e  and  an- 
nouncing his  departure,  showered  his  imprecations 
upon  the  patricians  of  Augsljurg,  upon  the  imperial 
council,  upon  his  own  remiss  courtiers,  and  upon 
Germany  at  large. 

Nor  was  his  rage  placated  when,  on  taking  his 
daily  ride,  he  saw  staring  him  in  the  face  from  the 
cathedral  gates,  a  formal  protest  to  the  pope,  drawn 
up  b}'  Luther  just  before  his  departure,  and  posted 
by  his  friend  the  prior  of  Pomesau,  in  the  presence 
of  a  notary  and  two  witnesses,  on  the  following 
day.-"- 

Cajetan  instantly  rode  home,  and  calling  for  pen 
and  paper  indited  an  indignant  letter  to  the  elector, 
whom  he  regarded  as  the  open  or  secret  protector 
of  this  German  theologian,  who  had  braved  and 
thwarted  his  cherished  plans  for  reaping  renown 
and  fortune  at  the  papal  court. 

After  reciting  his  own  biassed  account  of  the 
conference,  he  closed  with  these  words  : 

"  Since  brother  Martin  cannot  be  induced  by 
paternal  measures  to  acknowledge  his  errors,  and 

«  L.  0pp.  Lat.  I.,  219. 


292  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

remain  faithful  to  the  Roman  church,  I  beg  your 
highness  either  to  send  him  to  Home  or  else  to 
expel  him  from  your  states.  Be  assured  that  this 
difficult,  mischievous,  and  envenomed  business  can- 
not be  protracted  much  longer ;  for  so  soon  as  I 
have  informed  our  most  holy  lord  of  all  this  artifice 
and  wickedness,  it  will  be  brought  to  an  end." 

In  a  postscript  Cajetan  specially  and  earnestly 
conjured  Frederick  not  to  embroil  all  Germany, 
alienate  the  Koman  see,  and  tarnish  his  own  honor 
and  the  fair  fame  of  his  illustrious  house  by  cover- 
ing with  the  mantle  of  his  protection  the  shivering 
form  of  this  miserable  mendicant  friar. 

Frederick  read  this  insolent  and  dictatorial 
ejjistle  with  ill-dissembled  anger,*  but  still  his  pru- 
dent and  pacific  temper  led  him  to  avoid,  if  possible, 
all  vexatious  entanglements  ;  he  therefore  determin- 
ed to  adopt  the  Fabian  policy,  to  withhold  for  a 
little  his  decision,  and  to  let  afiairs  drift.  But  he 
sent  the  haughty  cardinal's  missive  to  Luther  at 
Wittemberg  by  a  special  courier.! 

Luther's  fiery  soul  heaved  with  indignation  as  he 
perused  the  crafty  and  malicious  sentences  of  his 
late  adversary  and  judge.  He  determined  on  his 
part  also  to  address  the  elector.  With  Luther  to 
,  determine  was  to  act.  Therefore  on  that  very  day 
he  wrote  the  elector  in  person  one  of  the  grandest 
letters  ever  penned,  brimful  of  sublime  sentiment, 
glowing  logic,  and  heartfelt  piety. 

After  recounting  at  length  the  incidents  of  the 

*  Seckendorf.  t  Myconius. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  293 

Augsburg  conference,  and  after  summoning  the  en- 
voys of  the  elector  and  the  members  of  the  imperial 
council  to  witness  the  perfect  truth  of  his  narration, 
the  vehement  and  eloquent  monk  wrote  thus  : 

"  I  should  like  to  answer  the  legate  in  place  of 
the  elector :  '  Prove  that  you  speak  of  what  3^ou 
understand,'  I  would  say  to  him ;  '  let  the  whole 
matter  be  committed  to  writing :  then  I  will  send 
brother  Martin  to  Rome,  or  else  I  will  myself  seize 
him  and  put  him  to  death.  I  will  take  care  of  my 
conscience  and  of  my  'honor,  and  I  will  permit  no 
stain  to  tarnish  my  glorj.  But  so  long  as  your 
positive  knowledge  shows  the  light,  and  is  made 
known  hj  its  clamors  only,  I  can  put  no  faith  in 
darkness.' 

"  It  is  thus  that  I  would  reply,  most  worthy 
prince. 

"Let  the  reverend  legate,  or  the  pope  himself, 
specify  my  errors  in  writing  ;  let  them  give  their 
reasons ;  let  them  instruct  me,  for  I  am  a  man  who 
desires  instruction,  who  begs  and  longs  for  it,  so 
that  not  even  a  Turk  would  refuse  to  grant  it.  If 
I  do  not  retract  and  condemn  mj'self  when  they 
have  proved  that  the  passages  which  I  have  cited 
ought  to  be  understood  in  a  different  sense  from 
mine,  then,  most  excellent  elector,  let  your  high- 
ness be  the  first  to  prosecute  and  expel  me  ;  let  the 
university  reject  me,  and  overwhelm  me  with  its 
anger.  Nay,  more,  and  I  call  heaven  and  earth  to 
witness,  may  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  cast  me  out  and 
condemn  me. 


294  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

"  Tlie  words  tliat  I  utter  are  not  dictated  by 
vain  presumption,  but  by  an  unshaken  conviction. 
I  am  willing  that  the  Lord  God  should  withdraw 
his  grace  from  me,  and  that  every  one  of  God's 
creatures  should  refuse  me  his  countenance,  if,  when 
a  better  doctrine  has  been  shown  me,  I  do  not  em- 
brace it. 

"  If  they  despise  me  on  account  of  my  low  estate, 
me  a  poor  little  mendicant  friar,  and  if  they  refuse 
to  instruct  me  in  the  way  of  truth,  then  let  your 
highness  entreat  the  legate  to  inform  you  in  writing 
wherein  I  have  erred  ;  and  if  they  refuse  even  your 
highness  this  favor,  let  them  write  their  views  to 
his  imperial  majesty,  or  to  some  archbishop  of  Ger- 
man3^     What  can  I,  what  ought,  I  to  say  more  ? 

"  Let  your  highness  Usten  to  the  voice  of  your 
conscience  and  of  your  honor,  and  not  send  me  to 
Rome.  No  man  can  require  you  to  do  so,  for  it  is 
impossible  that  I  could  be  safe  in  that  abandoned 
city.  The  pope  himself  is  not  safe  there.*  It 
would  be  commanding  you  to  betray  Christian 
blood.  They  have  paper,  pens,  and  ink  ;  they  have 
also  notaries  without  number.  It  is  easy  for  them 
to  write  wherein  and  wherefore  I  have  erred.  It 
will  cost  them  less  to  instruct  me  when  absent  by 
Avritiug,  than  to  put  me  to  death  by  stratagem  when 
among  them. 

"I  resign  myself  to  banishment.     My  adver- 

*  In  allusion  probably  to  a  tumult  which  had  recently  occurred 
atKome,  in  which  the  lazzaroni,  hungry  and  desperate,  had  stoned 
their  magniiicent  pontiff  as  he  walked  through  the  streets  in 
Bolemn  procession. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  295 

saries  are  laying  tlieir  snares  on  every  side,  so  that 
I  can  nowhere  live  in  security.  In  order  that  no 
evil  may  happen  to  you  on  my  account,  I  leave 
your  territories  in  God's  name.  I  will  go  wherever 
the  eternal  and  merciful  God  will  have  me.  Let 
him  do  with  me  according  to  his  pleasure. 

"  Thus  then,  most  serene  elector,  I  reverently 
bid  you  farewell.  I  commend  you  to  the  everlast- 
ing God,  and  give  you  eternal  thanks  for  all  your 
kindness  towards  me.  Whatever  be  the  people 
among  whom  I  shall  dwell  in  future,  I  shall  ever 
remember  you,  and  j^ray  continually  and  gratefully 
for  the  liftppiness  of  yourself  and  of  your  family. 

"  I  am  still,  thanks  be  to  God,  full  of  joy,  and 
praise  him  because  Christ  the  Son  of  God  esteems 
me  worthy  to  suffer  in  his  cause.  May  he  ever  pro- 
tect your  illustrious  highness.     Amen." 

This  noble  and  touching  letter  completely  gain- 
ed the  heart  of  the  elector.*  He  instantly  directed 
his  councillor  Pfeffinger,  then  at  Maximilian's 
court,  to  inform  the  emperor  of  the  real  state  of  the 
cause,  and  to  persuade  him  to  write  to  Kome  and 
arrange  that  Luther  should  be  tried  by  impartial 
judges  in  Germany.f 

Frederick  next  replied  to  Cajetan.  He  wrote, 
"  Since  Doctor  Martin  has  appeared  before  you  at 
Augsburg,  you  should  be  satisfied.  "We  did  not 
expect  that  you  would  endeavor  to  make  him  re- 
tract without  having  convinced  him  of  his  errors. 
None  of  the  learned  men  in  our  principality  have 

e  Maimbourg.  f  L.  Epp.  I.,  187. 


296  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

informed  us  that  Martin's  doctrine  is  impious,  anti- 
christian,  or  heretical.  We  must  refuse  therefore, 
either  to  send  Luther  to  Rome,  or  to  exjjel  him  from 
our  states."" 

The  elector  then  instructed  Spalatin  to  inform 
Luther  of  what  he  had  done,  and  to  instruct  him  to 
remain  in  Wittemberg,  and  to  continue  his  connec- 
tion with  the  university  until  he  was  directed  to 
discontinue  it. 

Luther's  joy  and  gratitude  on  the  reception  of 
this  most  reassuring  note  cannot  be  adequately 
described. 

In  the  exuberance  of  his  feelings  he  TsVote  Spa- 
latin  :  "  Gracious  God,  with  what  inexpressible  de- 
light have  I  read  your  letter,  read,  and  reread  it. 
I  know  what  confidence  may  be  put  in  these  words 
of  our  gracious  prince,  at  once  so  forcible  and  so 
moderate.  I  fear  that  the  Romans  may  not  under- 
stand their  full  bearing ;  but  they  will  at  least  un- 
derstand that  what  they  think  already  finished  is 
as  yet  hardly  begun.  Pray  return  ni}'  thanks  to 
the  prince.  It  is  strange  that  De  Vio,  who,  a  short 
time  back,  was,  like  myself,  a  mendicant  monk, 
should  not  fear  to  address  the  mightiest  princes 
disrespectfully  ;  to  call  them  to  account,  to  threaten, 
to  command  them,  and  to  treat  them  with  such  in- 
conceivable haughtiness.  Let  him  learn  that  the 
temporal  power  is  of  God,  and  that  its  glory  may 
not  be  trampled  under  foot."t 

Having  thus,  through  the  kind  firmness  of  the 

•  L.  0pp.  I.,  187.  t  L.  Epp.  I.   198. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  297 

elector,  gained  a  moment's  resj)ite  from  the  fierce 
ecclesiastical  warfare  which  God  destined  to  be  his 
lot  throughout  the  varied  jDhases  of  his  stormy 
career,  Luther  employed  the  interval  in  teaching 
his  "beloved  youth"  at  the  university  ;  in  the  trans- 
lation of  his  New  Testament  into  German,  wdiich, 
with  Melancthon's  assistance,  now  made  brave 
progress ;  and  in  corriecting  and  publishing  his 
sermons  and  j)opular  j^amphlets,  which  had  already 
achieved  a  marvellously  wide  circulation. 

John  Frobenius,  the  celebrated  printer  of  Basle, 
wrote  the  Wittemberg  doctor  on  the  14tli  of  Feb- 
ruary, 1819,  that  his  books  were  read  and  approved 
at  Paris,  nay,  even  in  the  inquisitorial  halls  of  the 
Sorbonne  ;  and  that,  of  an  edition  which  he  had 
recently  printed  at  Basle,  not  one  copy  was  left ; 
that  these  writings  were  scattered  throughout  Italy, 
Spain,  and  elsewhere,  and  everywhere  admired  by 
the  learned." 

Luther  now  published  his  Report  of  the  Confer- 
ence at  Augsburg.  Frederick,  anxious  that  the 
existing  difficulty  should  not  be  further  complicated, 
sent  him  word  through  Spalatin  to  withhold  this 
manuscript  from  the  printer  for  a  time ;  but  the 
letter  arrived  too  late — it  had  been  already  printed, 
both  at  Wittemberg  and  by  the  press  of  Frobenius 
at  Basle.t  Upon  being  informed  of  these  circum- 
stances, the  good-natured  elector  at  once  sanc- 
tioned the  publication. 

Luther  sent  Wenceslas  Link  of  Nuremberg  an 
•  Seckeiulorf,  p.  681.  t  Van  Brunt's  Hist.  Eef. 

13* 


298  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

early  copy  of  Lis  Heport ;  writing  bim,  "It  is 
keener,  no  doubt,  tban  tbe  legate  expects ;  but  my 
pen  is  ready  to  produce  mucb  greater  tbings.  I 
do  not  know  myself  wlience  tbese  tbougbts  arise. 
In  my  opinion  tbe  work  is  not  yet  begun ;  so  far 
are  tbe  great  ones  at  Home  mistaken  in  looking 
•for  tbe  end.  I  send  you  wbat  I  bave  written,  in 
order  tbat  you  may  judge  wbetber  I  bave  guessed 
rigbtly  tbat  tbe  anticbrist  of  wbom  St.  Paul  speaks 
now  reigns  in  tbe  court  of  Home.  I  tbink  tbat  I 
sball  be  able  to  sliow  tbat  be  is  worse  nowadays 
tban  tbe  Turks  tbemselves." 

Early  in  1519  Lutber  was  summoned  to  meet 
Frederick  at  Licbtemberg.  Tbere  a  lengtlfy  con- 
sultation w^as  beld.  Lutber  declared  tbat  if  Leo 
sent  bis  tlireatened  bull  of  excommunication  be 
sbould  quit  Saxony,  and  repair  to  Paris.  Tliis 
Spalatin  opposed,  bidding  bim  beware  of  precipi- 
tation in  going  to  France.  Tbe  elector  again  bad 
resort  to  bis  Fabian  politics.  He  told  Lutber  to 
await  quietly  tbe  action  of  events,  and  meantime 
to  remain  in  Wittemberg.* 

At  Home  tbe  utmost  displeasure  was  felt.  Leo 
vented  bis  irritation  on  poor  Cajetan.  Tbat  baugbty 
cburcbman  fell  into  sad  disgrace ;  and,  indeed,  bis 
bungling  management  did  not  deserve  tbe  plaudits 
of  tbe  apostolic  see. 

Tbe  bonor  of  tbe  Eoman  court  was  now  engaged. 
Leo,  for  tbe   first  time,  began  to  ajDpreciate  tbe 
magnitude  of  tbe  disaffection ;  be   determined  to 
«  L.  Epp.  I.,  195.  ^ 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  299 

use  liis  utmost  exertions  to  purify  the  theological 
atmosphere  of  Germany  from  the  audacious  heresy 
which  noAv  tainted  it. 

Leo  caused  De  Vio  to  publish  at  Lintz,  in 
Austria,  a  papal  bull  confirming  the  doctrine  of 
indulgences  in  those  very  points  which  had  been 
assailed  ;  but  the  new  decree  made  no  mention  of 
Luther,  or  the  new  theology.  The  pontiff  hoped 
by  this  move  to  reap  a  double  gain.  Luther  had 
declared  that  he  would  submit  to  the  decision  of 
the  church.  Here  then  was  that  invoked  decision 
formally  ]3romulgated.  Now,  if  the  Saxon  monk 
ventured  to  dissent,  he  must  eat  his  own  words,  and 
appear  in  the  unpopular  character  of  a  renewed 
disturber  of  the  peace  of  Christendom.  It  was  a 
cunning  scheme,  well  worthy  of  the  craft  of  Home. 

Nevertheless  it  was  a  blunder.  It  reaffirmed 
the  exploded  folly  of  the  indulgence  doctrine.  By 
legalizing  crying  abuses,  it  drove  all  wise  and 
Christian  men  into  the  dissenting  ranks.  "It  was 
thought,"  says  Maimbourg,  the  famous  Jesuit  his- 
torian, "that  this  bull  had  been  issued  solely  for 
the  benefit  of  the  pope  and  the  begging  friars,  who 
began  to  find  that  no  one  would  purchase  their 
indulgences."* 

It  did  not  even  place  Luther  in  the  imagined 
dilemma  ;  for  the  keen  monk  had  already,  on  the 
28th  of  November,  1518,  in  the  chapel  of  Corpus 
Christi,  at  Wittemberg,  appealed  from  the  pope  to 
a  general  council  of  the  church.f 

*  Maimbourg,  p.  38.  t  JRoscoe's  Life  of  Leo  X. 


300  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Doubly  irritated  by  being  tlius  for  a  second 
time  outwitted  by  his  despised  antagonist,  Leo  nev- 
ertheless managed  to  swallow  his  anger  for  a  time, 
and  he  had  recourse  once  more  to  mediation. 

He  was  persuaded  to  adopt  this  temporizing 
course  through  fear  of  offending  the  elector.  He 
knew  Frederick's  power  in  the  empire.  Maxi- 
milian's end  was  rapidly  approaching.  Leo  desired 
the  elector's  aid  in  securing  the  imperial  crown  for 
some  one  of  those  competitors  whose  interests  were 
allied  to  his  own.  The  present  emperor  desired 
that  his  successor  might  be  Charles  of  Spain  and 
Naples.  Frederick  had  already,  at  the  recent  diet 
at  Augsburg,  opposed  this  policy,  and  sided  with 
the.  Boman  see.  Nothing  therefore  must  be  done 
to  alienate  this  prince,  who  seemed  to  hold  the  de- 
cisive vote  in  his  hand.  But  if  this  dangerous 
period  could  be  tided  over  until  Maximilian's  death 
and  the  election  of  his  successor,  then  Leo  meant 
that  Christendom  should  see  brave  things. 

So  tangled  was  the  skein  of  Boman  policy  at 
this  momentous  juncture.  And  this  was  why  Leo  re- 
sorted to  congenial  finesse,  rather  than  to  open  war. 

He  looked  about  him  then  for  some  new  ambas- 
sador whom  he  might  dispatch  into  Germany  with 
better  prospects  of  success. 

Charles  of  Miltitz,  a  Saxon  nobleman,  to  whom 
Luther's  friends  had  appealed  early  in  the  contro- 
versy, who  was  the  pope's  chamberlain,  and  in 
whom  Leo  reposed  all  confidence,  was  finally  select- 
ed for  this  important  mission. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  301 

Leo's  choice  was  another  j^roof  of  his  lack  of 
discernment,  nay,  of  his  judicial  blindness.  Cajetan 
was  at  least  a  man  of  decent  morals  ;  Miltitz  was 
a  conceited,  gluttonous,  and  drunken  fop.* 

The  departure  of  such  an  envoy  on  an  ecclesi- 
astical mission,  in  which  he  was  to  represent  the 
Eoman  church,  and  combat  the  austere  tenets  of 
the  Reformation,  could  not  fail  to  provoke  a  general 
jeer.  The  cause  he  had  at  heart  was  wrecked  be- 
fore it  was  launched. 

Miltitz  set  out  for  Germany  in  the  latter  part  of 
December,  1518.  He  Avas  everywhere  received  with 
distrust  and  aversion.  On  his  own  part,  he  know 
the  temper  of  Germany  so  little  that  he  was  sur- 
prised to  find  that  the  adherents  of  the  Wittemberg 
theology  outnumbered  the  friends  of  the  pontiff  in 
the  proportion  of  three  to  one.f 

When  Luther  was  mentioned,  it  was  not  slight- 
ingly, or  even  pityingly ;  but  proudly,  and  with  en- 
thusiasm. He  was  already  the  acknowledged  chief 
of  the  German  empire  in  religious  matters. 

The  Eoman  envoy  constantly  felt  the  public 
pulse  as  he  proceeded  ;  and  he  was  chagrined  to 
find  that  it  beat  faster  and  stronger  for  Luther  as 
he  ajjproached  the  duchy  of  the  elector-duke. 

Meantime  rumors  of  the  speedy  arrival  of  the 
new  legate  flew  through  Saxony,  and  all  minds  be- 
came a  prey  to  suspicion  and  apprehension. 

*  Roscoc's  Life  of  Leo  X.     Piillaviciui,  Hist.  Concil.  Trid. ,  I., 
69.     "Nee  ab  usu  immoderato  vini  abstinuit." 
t  rallavieiui,  I.,  51. 


302  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Luther  was  besieged  by  his  friends,  and  con- 
jured to  be  upon  his  guard  against  Roman  subtlety 
and  stratagem.*  To  all  forebodings  Luther  re- 
sponded firmly,  "I  await  God's  will."  f 

Miltitz  was  armed  with  seventy  papal  briefs.  To 
these,  however,  he  was  only  to  have  recourse  as  a 
dernier  resort,  after  exhausting  every  other  artifice. 

These  briefs  thundered  the  pontifical  excom- 
munication against  all  who  should  venture  to  oppos3 
any  obstacle  to  the  action  of  the  legate.  It  was 
believed  at  Rome  that  if  the  legate  posted  one  of 
tli^se  briefs  in  each  city  on  his  return,  provided  he 
saw  fit  to  arrest  and  bring  with  him  to  the  Eternal 
City  the  formidable  heresiarch,  universal  awe  would 
dampen  the  ardor  of  those  who  otherwise  might 
resist  his  passage,  and  that  the  mailed  hands  of  the 
adherents  of  the  Reformation  would  drop  paralyzed 
to  their  sides  before  the  awful  maledictions  of  the 
Roman  see. 

This  Avas  doubtless  one  reason  why  Miltitz  was 
so  assiduous  in  sounding  the  sentiments  of  the 
German  populace  on  his  outward  route.  If  so,  he 
hardly  gained  much  consolation.  The  deep  and 
wide-spread  popularity  of  Luther  might  well  give 
him  pause,  if  he  contemplated  any  violence,  and 
teach  him  the  vastness  of  the  task  he  had  assumed. 

The   puny  strength  of  the  Saxon  chamberlain 
was  scarcely  adequate  to  the  Titanic  task  of  uproot- 
ing the  deep-planted  tenets  of  the  Reformation, 
o  L.  Epp.  I.,  191.  t  Ibid. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  303 


CHAPTEE   XXV. 

MiLTiTZ  arrived  at  the  electoral  court  earlj  in 
January,  1519.  He  was  an  old  acquaintance  of 
Spalatin ;  accordingly  lie  tarried  at  Weimar  only 
sufficiently  long  to  arrange  his  lodgings,  before  he 
repaired  to  the  residence  of  the  elector's  chaplain 
at  Altenburg. 

Spalatin  received  him  courteously ;  but  when 
the  legate  ventured  to  complain  of  Luther's  con- 
duct, and  to  chide  the  court  chaplain  gently  on  ac- 
count of  the  countenance  awarded  the  new  heresy 
by  Frederick  and  his  retainers,  Spalatin  carried  the 
war  into  Africa  by  vigorously  assaulting  the  course 
of  the  Roman  see  in  making  the  agitation  neces- 
sary by  endorsing  the  blasphemies  and  insolence  of 
the  great  indulgence-havfker  Tetzel. 

The  good  chaplain  then  recited  some  of  those 
impious  propositions  with  which  the  mountebank 
Dominican  had  been  accustomed  to  regale  his  gap- 
ing auditors. 

Miltitz  heard  this  with  real  or  pretended  surprise 
and  horror.  Clothed  with  full  power  to  investigate 
the  whole  subject,  he  wrote  Tetzel — who,  alarmed  at 
the  clamor  raised  against  his  iniquitous  traffic,  had 
sneaked  for  safety  into  the  college  of  St.  Paul, 
at  Leipsic — a  summons  to  appear  before  him  at 
Altenburg  to  answer  the  popidar  indictment. 

But  the  braggart  monk  dared  not  appear.     In 


304  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

tlie  letter  wliicli  he  wrote  excusing  his  non-compli- 
anee  with  the  nuncio's  order,  he  complained  that 
the  Wittemberg  Augustinian  had  raised  a  hue  and 
cry  against  him  not  only  in  Germany,  but  in  Poland 
and  Hungary ;  that  there  was  no  spot  where  he 
could  be  safe  ;  that  even  when  he  ventured  to  preach 
in  Leipsic,  he  was  met  with  menaces  and  reproaches ; 
and  that  as  for  journeying  to  Altenburg,  his  life 
would  not  be  worth  a  groat.* 

So  wrote  this  incarnation  of  fraud,  this  pompous 
Dominican,  who  feared  to  face  the  nuncio  of  that 
very  see  for  whose  benefit  he  had  made  himself  a 
swindler. 

When  we  recall  Luther's  perilous  march  into  the 
ver}^  jaws  of  the  Roman  lion  at  Augsburg,  and  con- 
trast his  frank  courage  with  the  ignominious  cow- 
ardice of  his  recently  swollen  antagonist,  the  picture 
is  significant. 

The  legate,  filled  with  contempt  for  Tetzel,  de- 
termined to  take  no  steps  at  present  towards  his 
punishment,  but  to  let  the  matter  rest  until  he  him- 
self repaired  to  Leipsic.  Meantime  he  strained  ev- 
ery nerve  to  effect  his  object  at  the  elector's  court. 

Frederick  had  some  years  before  earnestly  solic- 
ited from  the  pope  the  honor  of  the  golden  rose. 
This  rose  was  consecrated  every  year  hj  the  Roman 
pontiffs,  and  transmitted  to  some  one  of  the  Euro- 
pean princes  as  a  mark  of  the  pope's  peculiar  favor 
and  esteem. t 

*  Stebbing's  Hist.  Eef.  ;  Seckendoif ;  Van  Brunt. 
T  Miluer,  Ch.  Hist.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  241. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  805 

Leo,  recalling  Frederick's  petition,  determined 
to  confer  that  honor  now  upon  the  Saxon  princi-^ 
hoping  thus  to  cajole  him  into  relinquishing  his 
hold  on  Martin  Luther. 

But  the  penetrating  elector  saw  through  this 
notable  scheme,  and  refused  to  be  caught  by  the 
pontifical  chaff.  When  Miltitz  conferred  it  upon 
him,  Frederick  received  it  with  frigid  and  almost 
contemptuous  politeness,  and  in  nowise  could  he  be 
induced  to  deviate  from  his  course  concerning  the 
"Wittemberg  professor.* 

The  bafSed  nuncio  again  had  recourse  to  Spa- 
latin.  He  persuaded  the  chaplain  to  invite  Luther 
to  meet  him  at  Spalatin's  own  house  at  Altenburg, 
for  the  purpose  of  holding  a  friendly  and  informal 
interview. 

Luther  was  averse  to  this  meeting,  fi-om  ■  a  fear 
that  it  might  produce  some  bad  effect  on  his  appeal 
from  the  pope  to  a  general  council  ;t  but  Sj^alatin's 
representations  finally  prevailed  upon  him  to  meet 
Miltitz. 

He  quitted  home  for  this  purpose  on  the  3d  of 
January,  1519.  On  reaching  Altenburg,  he  repaired 
at  once  to  Spalatin's  residence. 

The  new  legate  met  him  with  that  profound  dis- 
simulation of  which  his  long  residence  at  the  Roman 
court  had  rendered  him  the  complete  master.  But 
the  shrewd  German  doctor  was  not  to  be  imposed 
on.  "  This  new  Saul,"  he  wrote,  "  came  into  Ger- 
many armed  with  seventy  apostolic  briefs,  to  drag 

*  MUner,  Ch.  Hist.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  241.      t  Seckeudorf,  p.  105. 


806  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

me  aUve  and  in  chains  to  that  mnrderous  Rome ; 
but  the  Lord  has  thrown  him  to  the  ground  by  the 
way."* 

Miltitz  indeed  overacted  his  part;  if  Cajetan 
had  been  too  imperious,  he  was  by  far  too  soft ; 
his  smiles  and  caresses  were  ominous. 

The  legate  feigned  surprise  on  meeting  Luther. 
"  My  dear  Martin,"  he  said,  "  I  imagined  you  to  be 
some  crusty  old  theologian  who,  seated  quietly  at 
his  hearthstone,  liad  become  the  victim  of  an  heret- 
ical theological  crotchet ;  but  it  seems  that  you  are 
a  yoimg  man,  not  yet  in  the  prime  of  life."t 

"But,"  he  continued,  "you  are  old  enough  to 
have  drawn  everybody  away  from  the  pope  and  at- 
tached them  to  yourself.  If  I  had  an  army  of  twen- 
ty-five thousand  men,  I  do  not  think  that  I  should 
be  able  to  convey  you  to  Eome  against  your  will." 

"  No,"  returned  the  imperturbable  monk;  "  God 
stays  the  waves  of  the  sea  upon  the  shore,  and  he 
stays  them  with — sand.":|: 

With  a  cunning  diplomacy  worthy  of  Machia- 
velli,  the  nuncio  then  proceeded  to  descant  in  glow- 
ing words  upon  the  terrible  wound  which  the  writ- 
ings of  the  Saxon  monk  had  unwittingly  inflicted 
upon  the  sensitive  body  of  the  Christian  church; 
and  he  concluded  a  long,  land,  and  moving  ha- 
rangue by  personally  appealing  to  Luther  to  medi- 
cine this  hurt,  and  by  informing  him  that  no  other 
leech  could  effect  a  cure. 

*  L.  Epp.  I.,  206.  t  L.  0pp.  Latin  TiseL 

t  L.  0pp.  (W.)  XXII. 


OF  MAKTIN  LUTHER.  307 

Lntlier  listened  to  liim  calmly  aniT  attentively; 
nay,  lie  even  ackuowledged  that  if  the  arclibislioj) 
of  Mentz  had  so  spoken  in  the  outset,  the  affair 
vronld  never  have  caused  so  great  disturbance.* 
He  then  on  his  part  pointed  out  the  abuses  into 
which  the  church  had  lapsed,  affirmed  the  necessity 
of  some  reformation,  complained  of  his  treatment  by 
the  Roman  see,  he  no  enemy,  but  a  simple  seeker 
after  truth,  and  ended  by  saying : 

"  I  am  so  desirous  to  settle  this  matter  amicably, 
that  I  will  go  to  the  very  verge  of  my  conscience. 
I  offer  to  be  silent  in  the  future  on  this  doctrine  of 
indulgences,  provided  my  opponents  on  their  part 
also  are  silent ;  but  if  they  continue  to  assault  me, 
a  serious  struggle  will  soon  arise  out  of  a  trifling 
dispute.  Not  only  will  I  do  this,  but  I  will  go  still 
further  :  I  will  write  to  his  holiness,  acknowledging 
that  I  have  been  a  little  too  violent,  and  I  will  de- 
clare that  it  is  as  a  faithful  son  of  the  church  that  I 
opposed  discourses  that  drew  upon  it  the  mockeries 
and  insults  of  the  people.  Yes,  I  am  willing  to  do 
and  to  bear  every  thing ;  but  as  for  a  retractation, 
never  expect  to  wring  one  fi'om  me."t  '^ 

This  was  far  from  being  so  much  as  the  papal 
envoy  had  hoped  to  gain ;  but  he  thought  that  half 
a  loaf  was  better  than  no  bread.  He  accordingly 
began  to  rail  against  Tetzel,  on  whose  head  he  de- 
clared that  he  would  pour  the  papal  maledictions ; 
and  he  brought  the  first  conference  to  a  close  by 
asserting  that  he  accepted  Luther's  offer,  and  would 
*  L.  0pp.  Lut.  in  Praaf.  t  L.  Epp.  I.,  207. 


308  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

speedily  communicate  it  to  tlie  pope  with  his  own 
earnest  endorsement. 

"  On  the  following  day  the  agreement  was  for- 
mally drawn  np.    There  were  two  articles : 

"  Both  parties  are  forbidden  to  preach,  write,  or 
do  any  thing  further  in  the  discussion  that  has  been 
raised. 

"  Miltitz  will  immediately  inform  the  holy  father 
of  the  state  of  affairs.  His  holiness  will  gmpower 
an  enlightened  bishop  to  investigate  the  matter,  and 
to  point  out  the  erroneous  articles  which  I  should 
retract.  If  they  prove  me  to  be  in  error,  I  shall 
willingly  retract ;  and  I  will  do  nothing  derogatory 
to  the  honor  or  authority  of  the  holy  Eoman 
church."" 

With  this  arrangement  Luther  hastened  to  ac- 
quaint the  elector ;  while  Miltitz  on  his  part  was  in 
ecstacies.  I,  thought  he,  am  the  David  who  has 
slain  the  Goliath  of  this  heresy.  With  what  honor 
shall  I  now  return  to  Home.  To  Luther  he  ex- 
claimed, "These  hundred  years  past,  no  question 
has  occasioned  more  anxiety  to  the  cardinals  and 
Boman  courtiers  than  this.  They  would  rather 
have  given  ten  thousand  ducats  than  consent  to  its 
being  prolonged."t 

In  the  evening  Miltitz  gave  the  reformer  a  grand 
supper.  At  this  feast  "  all  went  merry  as  a  mar- 
riage bell."  As  Luther  was  about  to  depart,  the 
nuncio,  in  the  exuberance  of  his  jo}',  actually  kissed 
his  guest. 

*  L.  Epp.  I,  209.  t  Pallavicini,  I.,  52. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEK.  •       309 

This  was  the  last  kiss  which  Rome  ever  gave 
the  Reformation. 

Luther  was  not  deceived  by  these  caresses.  "I 
pretend  not  to  understand  their  Itahan  artifices," 
lie  wrote  to  Staupitz.* 

"  Miltitz  being  of  opinion  that  he  would  by  this 
means  reclaim  the  erring  Lutherans,  behaved  most 
graciously  to  all  of  them,  accepted  their  invitations, 
and  sat  jlown  to  table  with  the  heretics;  but  soon 
becoming  inebriated — it  is  a  pope  who  relates  this — 
the  pontifical  nuncio  was  no  longer  master  of  his 
tongue.  The  Saxons  led  him  to  speak  of  the  poj)e  and 
the  court  of  Rome  ;  and  Miltitz,  confirming  the  old 
proverb,  In  vino  est  Veritas,  gave  an  account,  in  the 
openness  of  his  heart,  of  all  the  practices  and  dis- 
orders of  the  papacy.  His  companions  smiled, 
urged  him  on,  until  every  thing  was  exposed:  they 
took  notes  of  what  he  said;  and  these  scandals  were 
afterwards  made  matter  of  public  reproach  against 
the  Romans  at  the  diet  of  Worms,  in  the  presence 
of  all  Germany." t 

Meantime  Luther  had  returned  to  Wittemburg, 
and  had  been  discharging  the  office  of  city  pastor 
for  some  months,  as  the  substitute  of  Simon  Hein- 
sius,  the  ordinary  minister,  Avho  then  labored  under 
bodily  infirmities.  Thus  this  industrious  and  versa- 
tile man  supported  at  once  the  roles  of  theological 
teacher,  of  polemical  disputant,  of  popular  preach- 
er, and  parochial  clergyman.:]: 

*  L.  Epp.  I.,  216.  t  Eanke's  Hist,  of  the  Popeg. 

X  Milner's  Ch.  Hist. 


310  THE   LIFE  AND   TIMES 

Miltitz  at  length  escaped  from  the  dangerous 
hospitality  of  the  elector's  subjects,  and  repaired  to 
Leipsic,  where,  summoning  Tetzel  before  him,  he 
rebuked  him  with  the  utmost  severity  in  the  pres- 
ence of  his  provincial ;  proved  that  he  had  appro- 
priated considerable  amounts  of  money  to  his  own 
vile  uses,  and  dismissed  him  broken  and  des]3airing 
to  the  gloom  of  his  monastic  dungeon. 

Here  this  poor  tool  of  the  papal  iniquity  lingered 
out  a  few  months  of  ignominious  existence,  deserted 
by  the  very  churchmen  who  had  set  him  on,  and  a 
mark  for  scorn  to  point  her  finger  at. 

Luther's  heart  was  touched  when  he  learned  of 
Tetzel's  state.  "I  am  sorry  for  him,"  he  wrote  to 
Spalatin,  and  shortly  afterwards  he  gave  formal 
utterance  to  his  pity  by  addressing  his  old  opponent 
a  very  kind  and  earnest  letter.  Thus  Luther,  upon 
whom  Tetzel  had  poured  the  vile  torrent  of  his 
wrath  so  often,  Avas  the  only  one  who  was  found  in 
this  hour  of  need  to  assuage  his  misery;  but  the 
broken  monk  did  not  long  survive  his  disgrace,  dy- 
ing shortly  after  the  receipt  of  Luther's  letter,  very 
miserably.'^' 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  his  conference 
with  Miltitz,  Luther  had  expressed  a  willingness  to 
write  Leo,  apologizing  for  his  hasty  expressions 
regarding  the  sovereign  pontiff.f  Accordingly  on 
the  3d  of  March  he  indited  this  very  humble  letter 
to  the  pope : 

«  Seckendorf,  Miliier,  D'Aubigne,  Miclielet,  and  otliera. 
t  See  p.  307. 


OF   MARTIN  LUTHEE.  811 

"Blessed  Father — ^IMay  your  lioliness  coucle- 
scend  to  incline  jour  paternal  ear,  wliicli  is  that  of 
Christ  himself,  towards  your  poor  sheep,  and  listen 
kindly  to  his  bleating.  What  shall  I  do,  most  holy 
father?  I  cannot  bear  the  lightnings  of  your  anger, 
and  I  know  not  how  to  escape  them.  I  am  called 
on  to  retract.  I  would  most  readily  do  so,  could 
that  lead  to  the  desired  result.  But  the  persecu- 
tions of  my  adversaries  have  circulated  my  writings 
far  and  wide,  and  they  are  too  deeply  graven  on  the 
hearts  of  men  to  be  by  any  possibility  erased.  A 
recantation  would  only  still  more  dishonor  the 
church  of  Borne,  and  draw  from  the  lips  of  all  a  cry 
of  accusation  against  her. 

"  Most  holy  father,  I  declare  in  the  presence  of 
God,  and  of  all  his  creatures,  that  I  have  never  de- 
sired, and  that  I  shall  never  desire,  to  infringe, 
either  by  force  or  by  stratagem,  the  power  of  the 
Boman  church  or  of  your  holiness.  I  confess  that 
nothing  in  heaven  or  in  earth  should  be  preferred 
above  that  church,  except  Jesus  Christ  alone,  the 
Lord  of  all."^=- 

The  comments  of  historians  upon  this  singular 
letter  have  been  various.  Upon  a  fair  survey  of  all 
the  facts,  we  are  inclined  to  accept  INIilner's  resume: 

"  In  proposing  a  compromise  of  silence  on  both 
sides,  and  in  what  he  wrote  to  Leo  X.,  Luther  may 
have  been  thought  to  have  acted  inconsistently  with 
his  former  declarations,  and  to  have  conceded  too 
much  to  the  hierarch}^;  but  the  answer  is,  that  he 
«  L.  Epp.  I.,  234. 


312  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

has  already  manfully  resisted  the  Eoman  see ;  now 
he  began  to  hesitate  how  far  it  was  his  proper  busi- 
ness to  proceed  further  in  a  matter  of  that  sort ;  in  a 
word,  his  conscience  was  at  present  puzzled  respect- 
ing the  EXTENT  of  the  obedience  which  he  owed  to 
the  rulers  whose  authority  he  then  allowed. 

"  Harassed  with  doubts,  and  perfectly  aware  of 
the  danger  that  threatened  him,  he  would  haye  given 
the  world  for  a  sound  and  discreet  counsellor:  of 
the  danger  he  sought  no  partner ;  but,  alas,  his  best 
and  wisest  friends,  when  pressed  closely  concerning 
the  most  critical  and  perilous  part  of  the  contest, 
stood  absolutely  aloof.  After  he  had  conferred  Avith 
Miltitz,  he  wrote  to  his  friend  Spalatin ;  he  also  par- 
ticularly^ entreated  the  elector  Frederick,  that,  for 
the  sake  of  Almightj-  God,  he  would  use  so  much 
clemency  towards  him  as  freely  to  say  what  he 
wished  him  to  do  in  the  present  circumstances."- 

"  After  long  and  diligent  reflection  on  the  best 
authenticated  facts,  and  in  the  peculiar  situation  of 
Luther,  the  very  doubts  which  arose  in  his  mind  ap- 
pear to  me,  I  confess,  to  imply  both  extraordinary 
integrity  of  principle  and  great  vigor  of  intellect. "f 

D'Aubigne,  in  commenting  on  this  letter  to  pope 
Leo,  remarks, 

"  These  words  might  appear  strange  and  even 
reprehensible  in  Luther's  mouth,  did  we  not  re- 
member that  he  reached  the  light  not  suddenly,  but 
by  a  slow  and  progressive  course.  Thej  are  a  very 
important  evidence  that  the  Reformation  was  not 
*  Seckendorf,  p.  63.         f  Milner's  Ch.  Hist.,  Vol.  II.,  p.  243. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  333 

simply  an  opposition  to  the  papacy :  it  was  not  a  war 
waged  against  certain  forms;  nor  was  it  tlie  result 
of  a  merely  negative  tendency.  Opposition  to  the 
pope  was  in  the  second  line  of  the  battle  :  a  new 
life,  a  positive  doctrine,  was  the  generating  prin- 
ciple, '  Jesiis  Christ  tlie  Lord  of  all,  and  who  must 
be  preferred  above  all,'  even  above  Rome  itself,  as 
Luther  writes  at  the  end  of  his  letter,  was  the  essen- 
tial cause  of  the  Reformation  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury."* 

*  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  II.,  p.  22. 


14 


314  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTEE   XXVI. 

On  the  12tli  of  January,  1519,  the  presaged 
death  of  the  emperor  Maximihan  occurred.  Pend- 
ing the  election  of  the  new  emperor,  Frederick  of 
Saxony  Avas  selected  to  administer  the  empire. 

Instantly  the  sky  which  lowered  over  Wittem- 
berg  brightened. 

On  its  part  the  court  of  Eome  became  more 
cautious,  subtle,  conciliatory,  and  intriguing.  It  set 
in  motion  the  whole  prodigious  machinery  of  the 
apostolic  see  to  secure  the  election  of  one  of  its 
favorites  to  the  vacant  throne  of  the  German  Caesars. 
To  secure  his  ends,  Leo  stooped  with  easy  grace  to 
dissemble  and  to  procrastinate.  Since  the  Roman 
vulture  could  not  now  safely  seize  its  prey,  it  looked 
meek  and  harmless,  covered  its  bloody  talons  with 
scrupulous  care,  and  croaked,  "  Do  not  fear  ;  I  mean 
you  no  evil." 

Thus  it  happened  that  Luther's  letter  refusing  to 
retract  was  suffered  to  pass  unnoticed.  Leo  bent 
his  energies  with  renewed  zeal  to  the  accomi^lish- 
ment  of  his  purposes  in  the  German  Confederation, 
knowing  full  well  that  success  there  meant  Rome 
universally  triumphant. 

There  was  therefore  at  this  moment  a  brief  hush ; 
the  ecclesiastical  tumult  was  stilled,  but  only  to  be 
reinaugurated  ere  long  with  redoubled  fierceness. 
To  Luther  the  interval  brought  no  decrease  of 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  315 

labor,  though  his  controversial  writings  were  sujj- 
pressed  for  a  little. 

He  immersed  himself,  with  that  ardor  which  was 
peculiar  to  his  temperament,  in  the  duties  of  the 
university  and  of  his  parish,  occupying  busily  every 
leisure  moment  in  diligent  study,  and  especially  in 
increasing  his  ecclesiastical  knowledge.  He  was 
surprised  by  some  of  the  discoveries  which  he  made 
on  these  voyages  of  theological  exploration.  "  I  am 
reading,"  he  wrote  Spalatin,  "  the  decretals  of  the 
pope's,  and,  let  me  whisper  it  in  your  ear,  I  know 
not  whether  the  pope  is  antichrist  himself,  or  only 
his  apostle,  so  misrepresented  and  even  crucified 
does  Christ  appear  in  them."* 

Still  Luther  was  not  yet  prepared  for  separation 
from  the  Roman  communion.  His  object  was  refor- 
mation, not  abolition.  "Although  every  thing  is  now 
in  a  very  wretched  state  in  the  church,  this  is  no 
reason  for  separating  from  it.  We  must  not  desert 
God  on  account  of  the  devil,  or  abandon  the  chil- 
dren of  God  who  are  still  in  the  Boman  communion, 
because  of  the  multitude  of  the  ungodly.  Charity 
can  do  all  things,  and  to  unity  nothing  is  difficult. "t 
Thus  it  appears  that  even  so  late  as  the  year 
1519  Luther  still  regarded  the  Eoman  church  as  the 
shechinah  of  the  living  God.  Indeed  the  strict  his- 
torical truth  should  seem  to  be,  that  Luther  never 
did  abandon  Rome.  Rome  in  its  haughty  pagan- 
ism— for  the  apostolic  see  had  paganized  Christian- 
ity— departed  from  the  primitive  tenets  of  its  faith, 
«  L.  Epp.,  I.,  23i.  t  L-  0pp.  (L.,)  XVII.,  224. 


316  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

and  thus  itself  formally  rejected  and  abandoned  the 
pure  Christianity  which  Martin  Luther  only  rein- 
augurated. 

But  while  Luther  was  slowly  growing  into  a 
more  robust  knowledge  of  the  Roman  shibboleths, 
while  he  was  toilfully  acquainting  himself  with  the 
intricacies  of  the  pontifical  labj^'inth,  his  reputa- 
tion was  constantly  spreading  wider  and  wider. 

The  thunders  of  the  Keformation  were  no  longer 
confined  within  the  limits  of  the  German  empire, 
but  they  shook  the  robber  castles  of  the  Rhine,  and 
reverberated  through  Christendom, 

"We  have  already  spoken  of  the  flourishing  con- 
dition of  the  Wittemberg  university.  Its  fame  con- 
tinued to  advance  hand  in  hand  with  that  of  its 
most  illustrious  professor.  Among  the  students 
were  numbered  the  most  distinguished  youth  of 
Germany.  "Our  city,"  wrote  Luther,  "  can  scarcely 
hold  the  numbers  which  are  arriving,  and  they  in- 
crease upon  us  like  an  overflowing  tide."'^ 

It  will  be  remembered  that  in  the  articles  of 
agreement  drawn  up  between  himself  and  Miltitz, 
Luther  had  not  only  consented  to  remain  silent 
while  his  adversaries  respected  the  truce,  but  he 
had  also  consented  to  accept  the  arbitration  of  any 
impartial  bishop  whom  Leo  might  be  pleased  to 
designate. 

Miltitz,  who  saw  that  a  resort  to  violence  in 
accomplishing  the  object  of  his  mission  could  only 
result  fatally  to  himself,  since  the  temporary  as- 
*  L.  Epp.  I.,  278,  279. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  317 

sumption  of  the  imperial  purple  by  Frederick  of 
Saxony,  had  retired  to  Treves,  where  he  was  joined 
by  Cajetan. 

Putting  their  heads  together,  the  two  foiled 
nuncios  scrutinized  the  articles  of  agreement  to  see 
if  hap]y  they  might  discover  some  uncovered  point 
where  Luther  might  be  safely  grappled.  They  came 
to  that  passage  in  Avhicli  he  consented  to  accept  the 
arbitration  of  a  bishop.  Says  Miltitz  to  Cajetan, 
"  I  think  we  can  make  use  of  this  clause  to  lure  him 
into  our  hands.  I  will  get  the  archbishop  of  this 
ancient  city  of  Treves  appointed  arbitrator,  and  we 
Avill  then  summon  Luther  to  appear  for  judgment." 

Miltitz  hurried  in  hot  haste  to  his  grace  of 
Treves.  "  Luther,"  said  the  nuncio  to  the  elector- 
archbishop,  "  has  accepted  your  grace  as  arbitrator. 
Summon  him  before  you." 

But  unfortunately  for  the  success  of  this  last 
stratagem,  the  archbishop  of  Treves  was  a  personal 
friend  of  Frederick,  and  he  was  desirous  of  remain- 
ing so.  Knowing  full  well  the  .strong  hold  which 
the  Wittemberg  theologian  had  upon  the  affection 
of  the  imperial  elector,  he  very  prudently  declined 
to  summon  Luther  immediately  before  him,  but, 
accepting  the  arbitratorship,  he  postponed  the  whole 
inquiry  to  the  next  diet,  which  was  to  assemble  at 
Worms  in  1521. 

This  scheme  thus  happily  thwarted,  Luther  once 
more  applied  himself  to  his  books ;  he  had  scrupu- 
lously respected  the  truce  arranged  between  himself 
and  the  legate  at  Altenburg,  but  the  calm  was  now 


318  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

broken  b  j  Dr.  Eck,  who  publisliecl  at  Ingolstadt  thir- 
teen theses  aimed  at  Luther's  tenets,  and  expressly 
intended  to  draw  him  into  the  controversial  arena. 

This  schohistic  was  vain-glorious,  boastful,  proud 
of  his  pompous  learning,  and  he  was  still  more  puff- 
ed up  by  having  won  prizes  on  the  field  of  dispu- 
tation in  eight  different  universities.  He  was 
indeed  complete  master  of  the  weapons  of  offence 
and  defence  in  use  by  the  schoolmen.  His  logical 
acuteness  and  prowess  in  argument  had  hitherto 
enabled  him  to  conquer  all  opponents.  "  But  this 
little  monk"  says  Pallavicini,  "  this  Luther,  who  had 
suddenly  grown  into  a  giant,  whom  thus  far  no  one 
had  been  able  to  vanquish,  galled  his  pride,  and 
excited  his  jealousy."* 

Carlstadt,  who  was  at  this  time  on  friendly  terms 
with  Luther,  had  pubhshed  some  theses  in  reply  to 
Eck's  ObelisJcs.  To  these  Eck  had  responded,  and 
Carlstadt  had  rejoined.  The  result  of  this  skirmish 
was  that  Eck  challenged  Carlstadt  to  a  verbal  com- 
bat at  Leipsic,  hoping  in  this  way  to  ensnare  Luther 
into  the  controversy.  He  w^as  more  successful  than 
was  best  for  his  fame  as  a  disputant. 

The  last  of  his  Ingolstadt  theses  read  thus  : 
"We  deny  that  the  Roman  church  was  not  raised 
above  the  other  churches  before  the  time  of  pope 
Sylvester  ;  and  we  acknowledge  in  every  age,  as  the 
successor  of  St.  Peter,  and  the  vicar  of  Christ,  him 
who  has  filled  the  chair  and  held  the  faith  of  St. 
Peter." 

*  Palliivicini,  torn.  I.,  p.  55. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  319 

It  will  be  seen  that  this  proposition  brought  into 
the  discussion  the  whole  question  of  the  supremacy 
of  the  pope,  one  of  the  main  questions  of  the  Refor- 
mation. 

"Luther,  while  in  the  Roman  church,  held,  in 
common  with  many  other  papal  theologians,  ttat 
the  authority  of  the  councils  was  superior  to  that  of 
the  pope.  He  had  recently  appealed  from  pope 
Leo  to  a  general  council.  If  the  pontiff  was  supreme, 
of  what  use  would  his  appeal  be  ?  He  therefore 
read  this  thesis  with  indignation.  "Men  imagine 
vain  things  when  they  counsel  peace,"  he  wrote  : 
"  God  does  not  leave  me  to  my  own  will ;  he  pushes 
me  forward,  and  carries  me  away.  I  am  not  master 
of  myself.  I  desire  to  live  in  repose,  but  I  am 
thrown  into  the  midst  of  tumults  and  revolutions."^ 

Lutber  now  stepj^ed  forward,  accepted  the  com- 
bat which  Rome  had  invoked,  and  picked  up  the 
gauntlet  of  her  haughty  champion. 

"  God  knows,"  he  wrote  Frederick,  "  that  I  was 
firmly  resolved  to  keep  silence,  and  that  I  was  glad 
to  see  this  struggle  terminated  at  last.  I  have  so 
strictly  adhered  to  the  treaty  concluded  Avith  the 
papal  commissary,  that  I  have  not  replied  to  Syl- 
vester Prierias,  notwithstanding  the  insults  of 
adversaries,  and  the  advice  of  my  friends.  But 
now  Dr.  Eck  attacks  me,  and  not  only  me,  but  the 
university  of  Wittemberg  also.  I  cannot  suffer  the 
truth  to  be  thus  cowed  into  silence,  and  covered 
with  opprobrium."t 

*  L.  0pp.  Lat.  in  Praef.  f  L.  Epp.,  I.,  237. 


320  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

After  writing  tliis  letter  to  Frederick,  Luther 
publislied  a  number  of  theses  in  reply  to  Eck ;  the 
last  of  these  was  couched  in  these  words  : 

"  It  is  by  the  contemptible  decretals  of  Roman 
pontiffs,  composed  within  the  last  four  centuries, 
that  they  would  prove  the  primacy  of  the  Roman 
church ;  but  arrayed  against  this  claim  are  eleven 
centuries  of  credible  history,  the  express  declara- 
tions of  Scripture,  and  the  conclusions  of  the  Coun- 
cil of  Nice,  the  most  venerable  of  all  the  councils."" 

Luther  at  once  forwarded  these  theses  to  Eck  at 
Ingolstadt,  remarking  in  his  disdainful  and  biting 
style,  "  Now,  my  dear  Eck,  be  brave,  and  gird  thy 
sword  upon  thy  thigh,  thou  mighty  man.  If  I 
could  not  please  thee  as  mediator,  perhaps  I  shall 
please  thee  better  as  antagonist.  Not  that  I  im- 
agine I  can  vanquish  thee,  but  because,  after  all  the 
triumphs  thou  hast  gained  in  Hungary,  Lombard}^, 
and  Bavaria — if  at  least  we  are  to  believe  thee — I 
shall  give  thee  opportunity  of  gaining  the  title  of 
conqueror  of  Saxony  and  Misnia,  so  that  thou  shalt. 
for  ever  be  hailed  with  the  glorious  title  of  August."t 

Leipsic,  which  had  been  selected  as  the  city 
wherein  the  disputation  was  to  take  place,  was  sit- 
uated in  the  territory  of  duke  George,  the  elector's 
cousin.  Luther  wrote  this  prince,  who  was  inimi- 
cal to  his  cause,  requesting  permission  to  partici- 
pate in  this  intellectual  tournament. 

The  duke,  offended  at  Luther's  boldness,  and 
alarmed  by  his  open  assaults  upon  the  Roman  see, 
*  L.  0pp.  (L.,)  XVn.,  245.  t  L.  Epp'  I.,  251. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  321 

refused  to  grant  tliis  request,  and  no  importunities 
could  wring  from  him  any  thing  further  than  the 
concession  that  Luther  might  attend  the  disputa- 
tion as  a  spectator.* 

Luther  was  much  chagrined  at  this  decision, 
but  he  determined  to  repair  to  Leipsic,  and  see  if 
haply  an  opportunity  miglit  not  occur  for  him  to 
speak. 

As  things  now  stood,  the  main  interest  centred 
in  Eck  and  Carlstadt,  and  both  sides  were  actively 
preparing  for  the  combat.  The  honor  of  the  two 
rival  universities  of  Ligolstadt  and  Wittemberg  was 
felt  to  be  at  stake,  and  no  efforts  were  spared  by 
either  party  to  insure  the  victory  to  its  champion. 

Duke  George  did  his  utmost  to  forward  the  ar- 
rangements for  the  controversy,  now  that  Luther 
was  excluded  from  it,  and  the  time  was  definitely 
fixed,  the  24th  of  June,  1519. 

Erasmus  was  opposed  to  the  contest.  He  wrote 
Melaincthon,  just  previous  to  the  gathering  at  Leip- 
sic, 

"  If  3^ou  would  take  Erasmus'  word,  you  would 
labor  rather  in  cultivating  literature  than  in  dis- 
puting with  its  enemies.  I  think  that  we  should 
make  greater  progress  by  this  means.  Above  all, 
let  us  never  forget  that  we  ought  to  conquer  not 
only  by  our  eloquence,  but  by  our  moderation." 

But  the  pacifying  voice  of  the  sage  of  Rotterdam 
was  shortly  drowned  by  the  fierce  cries  of  the  as- 
sembled combatants  in  the  Leipsic  arena. 

*  Meurer's  Lite  of  Luther. 

14* 


322  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTEK  XXYII. 

The  agitation  at  Wittemberg  was  now  intense. 
Nothing  Avas  tlionglit  or  spoken  of-  but  the  ap- 
proaching dispute  at  Leipsic,  and  tlie  most  lavish 
preparations  were  made  by  the  honest  burghers  and 
the  heated  students  of  the  good  old  city  to  turn  out 
en  masse  in  honor  of  their  university. 

Luther,  whose  poverty  was  now,  as  it  continued 
to  be  through  life,  extreme,  and  who  was  absolutely 
dependent  upon  the  elector  in  pecuniary  matters, 
since  there  appears  to  have  been  no  settled  salary 
attached  to  his  professorship,  was  obliged  to  have 
recourse  to  Frederick  on  this  occasion  for  an  outfit 
in  which  to  appear  at  the  discussion.  His  letter  to 
the  elector  is  sufiiciently  curious  :  "  I  beseech  your 
electoral  grace  to  have  the  kindness  to  purchase 
for  me  a  white  surplice  and  a  black  one.  The  white 
one  I  humbly  pray  for.  As  for  the  black  one,  your 
highness  owes  it  to  me,  for  you  promised  it  to  me 
two  or  three  years  ago  ;  and  Pfefiinger  has  such 
difficulty  in  loosening  his  purse-strings,  that  I  have 
been  obliged  to  procure  one  for  myself.  I  humbly 
beseech  your  highness,  who  thought  that  the  j^sa/m- 
ster  merited  a  black  surplice,  not  to  deem  Saint 
Paul  unworthy  of  a  white  one."* 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  the  surplices 
made  their  speedy  appearance. 
*  Michelet. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  323 

On  the  24tli  of  June,  1519,  the  Wittembergers 
set  out  for  Leipsic.  "  Fh'sfc,"  saj's  Seckenclorf, 
"  came  Carlstadt,  alone  in  a  chariot ;  on  the  way 
one  of  his  wheels  broke,  near  St.  Paul's  church, 
and  he  was  thrown  out,  which  was  considered  a  bad 
omen.  Next  came  the  chariot  of  Barnim,  prince  of 
Pomerania,  who  was  at  that  time  a  student  at  Wit- 
temberg  with  the  title  of  honorary  rector.  Beside 
^im  were  Luther  and  Melancthon,  and  around  and 
folloAving  the  chariot  was  a  large  body  of  armed 
students."" 

Eck  had  already  arrived.  He  felt  at  home  in 
Leipsic.  Duke  George  and  the  vast  majority  of 
the  patricians  of  the  city  as  well  as  the  university 
were  his  acknowledged  partisans.  He  was  feasted 
daily  by  his  adherents,  and  every  attention  was 
bestowed  ujDon  him.  Certainly  no  disputant  could 
have  entered  the  argumentative  field  under  happier 
auspices. 

The  reception  awarded  the  Wittembergers  by 
the  hostile  city  was  cold  and  sullen.  It  was  with 
difficulty  that  they  could  obtain  lodgings,  and  the 
streets  were  constantly  the  scene  of  fierce  encounter 
between  the  rival  parties.f 

Luther  had  scarcely  arranged  himself  in  his 
apartments  ere  he  was  waited  upon  by  Eck.  The 
champion  of  scholasticism  demanded  Luther's  rea- 
son for  refusing  to  dispute  with  him.  He  was  in- 
formed of  the  duke's  refusal  to  grant  the  requisite 
permission.     This  Eck  undertook  to  obtain.     Carl- 

-  Seckenclorf,  p.  182.  f  Coclilaeus. 


324  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

stadt  lie  despised ;  lie  liad  come  to  Leipsic  to  over- 
throw Luther,  a  task  which  his  vanity  led  him  to 
imagine  he  could  perform.  After  some  reluctance, 
the  duke  was  persuaded  to  remove  his  interdict ; 
Eck  having  informed  him  that  he  could  easily  and 
certainly  master  Luther,  and  that  if  he  fell  his 
heresy  would  topple  over  with  him.  But  it  was  de- 
cided that  the  controversy  already  arranged  be- 
tAveen  himself  and  Carlstadt  should  go  on,  and.pre- 
cede  the  grand  tilt  with  Luther. 

A  hall  had  been  prepared  for  the  occasion  in  the 
palace  of  the  Pleissenburg ;  two  pulpits  had  been 
erected,  one  opposite  the  other,  and  from  these  the 
combatants  were  to  fire  their  logical  broadsides  at 
each  other. 

There  was  some  difficulty  in  the  appointment  of 
judges.  Eck  wished  them  to  be  nominated  from 
among  the  ranks  of  the  Roman  partisans.  Luther 
naturally  objected ;  he  favored  an  ajDpeal  to  public 
opinion — democratic  in  this  as  in  many  other  re- 
spects. "  He  required,"  says  Pallavicini,  "  all  men 
for  his  judges ;  that  is,  such  a  tribunal  that  no  urn 
could  have  been  vast  enough  to  contain  the 
votes.-'"'^" 

"  Finally,"  says  Eck,  "  certain  doctors  of  Erfurth 
and  Paris  were  selected  to  act  as  judges."  Luther, 
who  was  bitterly  opposed  to  this  appointment,  and 
who  only  consented  to  it  when  accused  of  wishing 
by  his  objections  to  manoeuvre  himself  out  of  the 
dispute,  reserved  the  right  of  appeal,  and  it  was 

«  Pallavicini,  I.,  55. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  325 

finally  conceded  that  tliis  ex  parte  and  mock  judg- 
ment should  not  be  considered  decisive.* 

On  the  morning  of  the  27th  of  June,  vast  crowds 
thronged  the  council-chamber  of  the  old  Leipsic 
palace,  while  the  disputants  and  their  friends  were 
already  -seated  and  ready  to  commence  their  can- 
nonade. 

A  great  number  of  dignitaries  were  present. 
Duke  George  of  Saxony ;  the  hereditary  prince, 
John ;  Prince  George  of  Anhalt ;  the  Duke  of  Pome- 
rania ;  Emser,  the  duke's  confidant,  who  had  already 
tested  Luther's  mettle  ;  the  faculty  of  the  Leipsic 
university,  and  a  host  of  lesser  lights,  besides  the 
orators  of  the  occasion,  lent  lustre  to  the  dis- 
cussion. 

Peter  Musellanus,t  Greek  professor  at  Leipsic, 
opened  the  exercises  by  ascending  one  of  the  pul- 
pits and  laying  down  the  rules  which  duke  George 
had  decided  should  govern  the  encounter.  "  If 
you  fall  to  quarrelling,"  he  said,  "what  difference 
will  there  be  between  a  theologian  in  discussion, 
and  a  shameless  duellist  ?  AVhat  is  your  object  in 
gaining  the  victory,  if  it  be  not  to  recover  a  brother 
from  error?  Each  of  3'ou  should  desire  less  to 
conquer  than  to  be  conquered.":]: 

*  Myconiup,  Melanctlion. 

t  Musellanus  was  at  first  inclined  to  scoff.  He  wrote  his  friend 
Erasmus,  "John  Eck,  the  most  illustrious  of  goose-quill  gladia- 
tors, and  of  braggadocios — John  Eck,  who,  like  the  Aristophanic 
Socrates,  despises  even  the  gods  themselves,  will  have  a  bout  with 
Andi-ew  Carlstadt.  The  match  will  end  in  loud  cries.  Then  such 
men  as  Democritus  would  find  matter  for  laughter  in  it."  Seek- 
endorf,  p.  201.  t  Seckendorf,  p.  209. 


326  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

After  the  solemn  cliant  of  tlie  ancient  hymn  of 
invocation  to  the  Holy  Spirit,  Veni,  Sande  Spiritus,, 
during  which  the  churchmen  of  the  middle  ages, 
and  the  innovators  who  sought  the  restoration  of 
the  primitive  forms,  humbly  bent  their  heads  in 
common  to  the  earth  in  these  last  moments  of  out- 
ward, of  dead  unity,*  Eck  and  Carlstadt  ascended 
their  respective  pulpits. 

Carlstadt  started  with  the  proposition,  that  every 
good  work  is  altogether  from  God;  to  which  Eck 
objected,  that  every  good  luork  is  indeed  from  God, 
hut  not  ivliolly. 

In  the  conduct  of  the  dispute,  Eck,  it  is  generally 
allowed,  manifested  great  readiness  of  language, 
and  much  ingenuity  in  discovering  those  nice  dis- 
tinctions in  which  the  logic  of  the  schools  so  much 
delighted. 

Carlstadt,  on  the  other  hand,  failed  in  that 
power  of  expression,  that  fertility  of  resource,  that 
quickness  of  retort,  that  magnetism  of  manner, 
and  that  easy  reference  to  his  source  of  knowledge, 
so  essential  in  eloquence,  and  which  rendered 
Luther's  oratory  so  irresistible. 

The  consequence  was,  that  Eck  had  greatly  the 
advantage  in  his  vehement  appeals  to  that  portion 
of  his  audience  who  preferred  ingenuity  of  speech 
to  soundness  of  learning  and  to  truth. 

But  Carlstadt  enjoyed  the  high  satisfaction  of 
convincing  the  more  candid  of  his  listeners  that  he 
was  defending  a  proposition  whose  truth  must  be- 
«-  D'Aiibigne,  Vol.  11. ,  p.  41. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER,  327 

come  more  percejjtible,  the  more  genuine  learning, 
and  sound,  unsopliisticated  reasoning  were  em- 
ployed in  its  illustration." 

Melanctlion,  who  sat  beside  Carlstadt,  was  of 
vast  assistance  to  the  pondei'ous  and  uuwieldly  pro- 
fessor— by  his  quickness  detecting  the  flaws  in 
Eck's  argument,  and  by  his  readiness  and  pro- 
found learning  extricating  his  friend  from  many 
perilous  rhetorical  ambuscades.  On  one  occasion 
Eck,  having  slightly  confused  his  opponent,  de- 
tected Melanctlion  in  the  act  of  passing  to  Carl- 
stadt a  slip  of  paper  on  which  he  had  written  an 
answer.  "Philip,  hold  your  tongue,"  thundered 
the  angry  rhetorician;  "  mind  your  studies,  and  do 
not  interfere  with  us."  The  imperturbable  Me- 
lanctlion was  not  to  be  frightened,  and  he  con- 
tinued to  supply  Carlstadt  with  ideas  as  serenely 
as  before.t 

The  dispute  between  Eck  and  Carlstadt  con- 
tinued through  six  days,:!:  and  was  carried  on  amid 
much  clamor  and  confusion.  Melanctlion,  in  his 
calm,  sweet  resume  of  the  controversy,  wrote,  "We 
cannot  help  feeling  surprise  when  we  think  of  the 
violence  with  which  these  august  subjects  were 
treated.  How  could  any  one  expect  to  derive  any 
profit  from  it?  The  Spirit  of  God  loves  retirement 
and  silence  ;  it  is  then  that  it  penetrates  deep  into  " 
our  hearts.     The  bride  of  Christ  does  not  dwell  in 

*  Stebbing's  Hist.  Kef.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  55. 
t  Seckendorf,  Corpus  Ref.,  I.,  149. 
X  From  June  27tli  to  July  4tb,  1519. 


328  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

the  streets  and  market-places,  but  leads  lier  spouse 
into  the  house  of  her  mother."^ 

In  his  account  of  this  preliminary  debate,  Lu- 
ther protests  in  the  most  solemn  manner  that,  not- 
withstanding Eck's  prodigious  animation  of  manner, 
and  energetic  exertions  of  voice  and  action,  as  long 
as  an  appeal  to  books  and  written  documents  was 
admitted,  his  friend  Carlstadt  defended  himself  with 
rich  variety  of  apt  and  excellent  quotations.  "But," 
continues  he,  "  Eck  perceiving  this,  and  aware  of 
his  superior  eloquence  and  readiness,  soon  made  a 
proposal  that  all  books  be  laid  aside,  and  that  the 
disjjute  go  on  without  them  ;  and  then  I  freely 
own  that  Eck,  who  had  the  better  memory  and 
the  happiest  flow  of  words,  supported  his  side  in  a 
more  jalausible  manner  than  his  opponent."! 

Eck,  flushed  with  this  quasi  success,  and  anxious 
fo  achieve  fresh  glory,  next  summoned  Luther  him- 
self into  the  arena. 

The  Wittemberg  doctor  had  preserved  a  silence 
thus  far  which  had  only  been  broken  by  the  deliv- 
ery of  one  sermon  before  the  student  duke  of 
Pomerauia,  on  the  festival  of  St.  Peter  and  St. 
Paul.  But  he  had  familiarized  himself  with  Eck's 
rhetorical  tactics,  and  he  determined  to  meet  the 
pompous  scholastic  with  his  own  weapons. 

On  the  4tli  of  July  the  new  antagonists  began 

their  debate.     Among  the  articles  of  controversy 

were  the  doctrines  of  inirgatory  and  indulgences,  the 

nature  of  repentance  and  the  reiaission  of  sins,  and 

«  Mekncthon,  0pp.,  p.  134.  t  Seckendorf,  p.  73. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  329 

particularly  tlie  foundation  of  tlie  stqircmacy  of  the 
Roman  pontiffs.  Besides  these  topics  a  number  of 
subsidiary  questions  were  treated,  and  the  debate 
took  a  wide  scope. 

On  the  superstitious  notion  of  purgatory  many 
arguments  and  distinctions  were  produced  on  both 
sides.  In  general  Luther  admitted  his  belief  in 
the  existence  of  such  a  place,  and  even  that  some 
obscure  hints  of  it  might  be  gleaned  from  Scrip- 
ture. But  he  denied  that  any  thing  clear  and 
convincing  was  revealed  in  the  sacred  oracles  con- 
cerning that  now  exploded  sophism. 

Luther  had  expected  that  Eck  would  make  the 
question  of  the  validity  of  indulgences  the  Ther- 
mopylae of  his  cause.  But  he  extricated  himself 
from  this  difficulty  with  a  success  which  before  the 
conflict  he  had  not  ventured  to  expect.  Eck  hap- 
pened to  affirm  that  a  sort  of  medium  of  opinion 
ought  to  be  held  respecting  indulgences,  "  On  the 
one  hand,"  said  he,  "  they  ought  not  to  be  con- 
denmed,  and  on  the  other  they  ought  not  to  be 
entirely  relied  on."  "  I  found,"  observed  Luther, 
"  that  I  could  nearly  agree  to  this  explanation,  and 
it  is  certain  that  papal  indulgences  never  received 
such  a  wretched  and  unfortunate  defence.  They 
were  treated  in  a  way  that  produced  great  laughter 
in  the  palace  chapel.  If  the  proclaimers  of  indul- 
gences had  held  Eck's  opinion  in  vending  them,  I 
should  never  have  even  murmured  a  dissent.  I  say, 
that  if  the  people  had  been  informed  that  these 
absurd  diplomas  could  not  be  relied  on,  the  com- 


330  THE  LIFE   AND  TIMES 

missaries  who  conducted  tlie  sale  of  them  would 
have  died  of  hunger." 

Luther's  triumph  on  this  pomt  was  decisive,  and 
his  acuteness  as  a  theological  disputant,  ready  to 
avail  himself  of  the  slightest  indiscretion  of  his  an- 
tagonist, appears  very  manifest  from  this  instance.* 

When  he  came  to  touch  on  the  nature  of  ee- 
PENTANCE  and  the  remission  of  sins,  his  marvellous 
learning,  his  perfect  acquaintance  with  the  Bible 
doctrines,  his  familiarity  with  the  sophisms  of  the 
schools,  and  his  luminous  eloquence  bore  down  all 
opposition.  The  admiring  plaudits  of  his  auditors 
crowned  him  as  the  undisputed  victor  in  this  branch 
of  the  discussiou.t  This  Hercules  of  the  Refor- 
mation broke  poor  Eck's  chain  of  sophisms  as  easily 
as  Samson  snapped  the  green  wdthes  of  the  Phil- 
istines. 

But  the  emphasis  of  the  debate  was  upon  the 
pontifical  supremacy.  Eck  contended  that  the  bib- 
lical expressions,  "  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this 
rock  will  I  build  my  church,"  "  and  I  will  give  unto 
thee  the  kej's,"  evinced  the  supremacy  of  St.  Peter 
and  his  successors ;  that  this  was  the  judgment  of 
the  fathers,  and  that  the  contrary  opinion  was  the 
heresy  of  Wickliffe  and  of  Huss. 

Luther,  in  his  reply,  was  still  too  good  a  Romanist 
to  deny  this  doctrine  in  tofo;  he  conceded  the  suprem- 
acy of  the  pope  on  human  and  historical  grounds, 
but  denied  the  divine  eight  of  the  Roman  pon-tiff 

<:-  Milner,  Cli.  Hist.,  Vol.  11;,  p.  257. 
t  Melancthon,  O]:)!).  ;  Maimbourg. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  331 

in  that  sense  which  makes  him  the  successor  of  St. 
Peter  and  the  vicar  of  Christ.  It  was  here  that  his 
argument  was  weak  and  faltering.  No  middle 
ground  on  this  point  was  tenable,  and  only  what 
Maimbourg  terms  "  the  knowledge  and  subtlety  of 
his  fine  genius"  enabled  him  to  keep  his  ground 
against  Eck's  impetuous  onset.  Still,  his  argument 
on-  that  point,  so  far  as  it  went,  was  very  strong. 
"  I  can  produce,"  he-  said,  "  more  authorities  from 
the  fathers  in  s^ipport  of  my  interpretation  of  those 
scriptural  passages,  than  my  opponent  can  possibly 
cite ;  but  that  aside :  if  I  could  not,  I  have  no  hesi- 
tation in  affirming  that  I  can  refute  this  error  on 
the  authority  of  St.  Paul,  yes,  and  of  St.  Peter  him- 
self;  these  apostles  both  say  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
the  only  foundation  and  corner-stone  of  his  church. 
As  for  the  expression,  '  Thou  art  Peter,'  if  con- 
strued strictly,  it  must  be  confined  to  the  person  of 
Peter  alone  ;  it  was  not  delegated,  and  it  ceased,  if 
it  ever  existed,  when  that  apostle  died."- 

Eck  is  said  to  have  been  much  struck  by  the 
luminous  reasonings  of  Luther,  and  especially  with 
the  neat  and  admirably  digested  order  in  which  his 
materials  were  arranged.  He  openly  acknowledged 
the  splendid  qualifications  and  attainments  of  his 
reverend  antagonist,  and  even  besought  his  audience 
to  pardon  his  manifest  inferiority.  He  said  that  he 
was  so  much  engi'ossed  in  other  matters — he  who 
spent  his  life  in  the  discussion  of  scholastic  subtle- 
ties— that  if  he  should  not  succeed  in  producing 

*  llevelut.  Lutheri. 


332  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

such  a  mass  of  accurate  testimonies  as  tlie  learned 
doctor  of  Wittemberg  liad  laid  before  tliem,  lie  must 
be  pardoned,  for  lie  came  to  Leipsic  not  to  write 
books,  but  to  dispute."'-' 

The  fact  is,  that  Eck  was  greatly  overmatched. 
In  acquaintance  with  the  Scriptures,  in  familiarity 
with  ecclesiastical  history,  in  eloquence,  in  wit,  in 
fertility  of  resource,  and  even  iii  mastery  of  the 
subtleties  of  the  schools,  Eek's  strongest  point, 
Luther  was  to  his  opponent  as  "iHyperion  to  a 
sat^T." 

Luther's  only  weakness  was,  that  he  still  remain- 
ed wedded  to  many  popish  errors.  Like  Milton's 
lion,  his  head  was  free,  but  he  still  pawed  to  clear 
his  hinder  parts.  He  halted  between  the  errors  of 
his  monastic  cell  and  the  radical  tenets  of  the  per- 
fected Reformation.  He  said  himself,  years  after- 
wards, 

"  My  case  is  a  notable  example  of  the  difficulty 
with  which  a  man  emerges  from  erroneous  notions 
of  long  standhig.  How  true  is  the  proverb.  Custom 
is  a  second  nature.  How  true  is  that  saying  of 
Augustine,  Habit,  if  not  resisted,  becomes  necessity. 
I  who,  both  publicly  and  privately,  had  taught 
divinity  with  the  greatest  diligence  for  seven  years, 
insomuch  that  I  retained  in  my  memory  almost 
every  word  of  my  lectures,  was  in  fact  at  that  time 
only  just  initiated  into  the  knowledge  of  faith  in 
Christ ;  I  had  only  just  learned  that  man  must  be 
justified  and  saved,  not  by  works,  but  by  faith  in 
*  Miluer,  Vol.  II.,  p.  2-18. 


or  MARTIN  LUTHER.  333 

Christ.  In  regard  to  the  pontifical  authority, 
though  I  pubhcly  maintained  that  tlie  pope  was  not 
the  liead  of  the  cliurcli  by  divine  right,  I  stumbled 
at  tlie  very  next  step,  namely,  in  not  perceiving  that 
the  whole  papal  system  was  a  Satanic  invention. 
Hence  I  have  learned  to  have  great  charity  for  pa- 
jiists  who  are  unfamiliar  with  sacred  and  profane 
history."* 

This  criticism  of  Luther  upon  himself  is  emi- 
nently just,  and  is  another  proof  of  the  noble  candor 
and  integrity  with  which  he  always  lays  open  his 
mind  and  exposes  his  errors  on  serious  occasions. 

The  debate  was  carried  on  through  ten  excited 
days.t  Although  defective  in  thoroughness  and 
radical  discussion  of  the  controverted  points,  it  was 
still  so  far  in  advance  of  any  preceding  dispute  in 
these  respects,  that  it  created  a  great  sensation 
throughout  Germany,  and  indeed  throughout  Chris- 
tendom. 

Of  course  both  sides  claimed  the  victory.  The 
judges,  although  inimical  to  Luther,  would  give  no 
decision.  The  Erfurth  doctors  were  personally  im- 
portuned by  duke  Ge(5l'ge  to  give  judgment,  but 
they  maintained  an  unbroken  silence ;  while  the 
Paris  schoolmen  would  not  decide  at  the  time,  yet 
several  years  afterwards,  they  selected  several  prop- 
ositions culled  from  the  body  of  Luther's  writings 
and  pronounced  them  heretical,  though  not  appar- 
ently with  any  reference  to  the  Leipsic  discussion. 

o  Luther  0pp.,  Vol.  I.,  Praef. 
f  From  July  Ith  to  July  ISth. 


334  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Eck  was  loud  in  his  protestations  of  triumpli, 
but  his  real  opinion  may  be  unerringly  detected  by 
his  after  course.  From  this  time  his  bitterness  and 
enmity  towards  Luther  increased  tenfold.  It  Avill 
be  seen,  as  this  narrative  progresses,  with  what  in- 
cessant personal  malice  and  resentment  he  labored 
for  the  destruction  of  that  foeman  whose  defeat  at 
Leipsic  he  so  brazenly  proclaimed.  It  will,  we  ap- 
prehend, be  found  difficult  to  reconcile  this  splenetic 
and  furious  conduct  of  the  papal  champion  with  the 
supposition  of  his  consciousness  of  superiority  and 
victory.  Kather,  should  we  not  accept  Mosheim's 
query  ?  "  Was  not  his  course  the  result  of  a  revenge- 
ful sense  of  the  humiliation  and  defeat  wliicli  he 
suffered  in  that  memorable  contest  ?"* 

Musellanus,  who  had  designed  to  attend  this 
discussion  only  to  scoff,  became  intensely  interested 
in  the  proceedings  as  they  progressed,  and  at  the 
close  he  wrote  this  impartial  judgment  :  "  Eck  is 
conqueror  in  the  eyes  of  those  who  do  not  under- 
stand the  matter,  and  who  have  grown  grey  under 
the  old  schoolmen  ;  but  Luther  and  Carlstadt  are 
victorious  in  the  opinion  of  all  those  who  possess 
any  learning,  understanding,  and  modesty."t 

Musellanus  has  also  sketched  for  us  the  personal 
appearance  of  the  three  debaters  of  the  Leipsic 
tournament : 

"  Martin  Luther  is  of  middle  stature,  and  so 
thin,  in  consequence  of  his  studies,  that  his  bones 

*  Mosheim,  Vol.  II.,  Chap.  II.,  Sect.  10. 
t  Seckendorf,  p.  207. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  335 

may  almost  be  counted.  He  is  in  the  prime  of  life, 
and  has  a  clear,  sonorous,  and  finely  modulated 
voice.  As  an  oratorical  debater  he  cannot  be  sur- 
passed. His  knowledge  and  understanding  of  the 
Scriptures  is  unparalleled  ;  he  has  the  word  of  God 
at  his  fingers'  ends.  Besides  this,  he  possesses  a 
great  store  of  arguments  and  ideas.  In  conversa- 
tion he  is  pleasing  and  aflable,  there  is  nothing- 
harsh  or  severe  about  him ;  he  can  accommodate 
himself  to  every  one  ;  his  manner  in  speaking  is  very 
agreeable  and  unembarrassed.  He  displays  great 
firmness,  and  has  always  a  cheerful  air,  whatever 
may  be  his  adversaries'  threats;  so  that  it  is  difficult 
to  believe  that  he  could  undertake  such  great  things 
without  the  divine  protection.  He  is  blamed,  how- 
ever, for  being  more  caustic  when  reproving  others 
than  becomes  a  theologian,  particularly  when  put- 
ting forward  novelties  in  religion. 

"  Carlstadt  is  of  shorter  stature  ;  his  complexion 
is  dark  and  sunburnt,  his  voice  is  unpleasant,  his 
memory  less  quick  and  trustworthy  than  Luther's, 
and  he  is  more  inclined  to  be  angry.  He  possesses 
however,  though  in  a  smaller  degree,  the  qualities 
that  distinguish  his  friend. 

"  Eck  is  tall,  broad-shouldered,  and  has  a  strong 
and  thorough  German  voice.  He  has  good  lungs, 
so  that  he  would  be  heard  well  in  a  theatre,  and 
would  even  make  an  excellent  town-crier.  His 
accent  is  rather  vulgar  than  elegant.  He  has  not 
that  gracefulness  so  much  extolled  by  Fabius  and 
Cicero.     His  mouth,  his  eyes,  and  his  whole  coun- 


336  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

tenance  give  you  the  idea  of  a  soldier  or  a  butclier, 
rather  than  of  a  divine.  He  has  an  excellent  mem- 
ory, and  if  he  had  only  as  much  understanding,  he 
would  be  really  a  perfect  man.  But  he  is  slow  of 
comprehension,  and  is  wanting  in  judgment,  with- 
out which  all  other  qualities  are  useless.  Hence, 
in  disputing,  he  heaps  together  without  selection  or 
discernment  a  mass  of  passages  from  the  Bible, 
quotations  from  the  fathers,  and  proofs  of  all  kinds. 
He  has  besides  an  impudence  almost  beyond  con- 
ception. If  he  is  embarrassed,  he  breaks  off  from 
the  subject  he  is  treating  of,  and  plunges  into 
another ;  he  sometimes  even  takes  up  his  adversa- 
ry's opinion,  clothing  it  in  other  words,  and  with 
extraordinary  skill  attributes  to  his  opponents  the 
absurdity  he  has  been  himself  defending."" 

Such,  according  to  the  elegant,  witty,  and  satir- 
ical Greek  professor  of  the  Leipsic  university,  were 
the  three  heroes  of  this  celebrated  ecclesiastical 
dispute. 

At  the  conclusion  of  the  controversy,  Luther  first 
quitted  Leipsic ;  Carlstadt  followed  him,  while  Eck 
remained  to  blow  his  trumpet.  When  these  self- 
congratulations  reached  Luther's  ears,  he  wrote 
Spalatin,  "Eck  is  trumpetmg  everywhere;  but  in- 
the  camp  of  Kome  each  man  disputes  his  laurels, 
and  claims  the  crown  for  himself.  '  If  we  had  not 
come  to  Eck's  support,'  so  say  the  doctors  of  Leij)- 
sic,  'the  illustrious  doctor  would  have  been  over- 
thrown.' '  The  Leipsic  divines  are  very  good  sort  of 
*  Masellamis,  quoted  in  Seckendorf,  p.  206. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  337 

people,'  retorts  Eck,  '  but  I  expected  too  much  of 
them.  I  did  every  thing  single-handed.'  So  you 
see  they  are  singing  a  new  Iliad  and  a  new  ^neid. 
They  are  so  kind  as  to  make  a  Hector  or  a  Turnus 
of  me ;  while  Eck,  in  their  eyes,  is  Achilles  or  Jj^neas. 
They  have  but  one  doubt  remaining,  whether  the 
victory  was  gained  by  the  arms  of  Eck,  or  by  those 
of  Leipsic.  All  that  I  can  say  to  clear  up  the  sub- 
ject is  this :  Doctor  Eck  never  ceased  bawling,  and 
the  Leipsic  divines  did  nothing  but  hold  their 
tongues."^ 

The  result  of  this  f;imous  controversy  was  two- 
fold :  the  fires  of  debate  were  relighted  throughout 
Germany,  where  they  blazed  with  redoubled  bright- 
ness ;  many  new  adherents  were  won  by  Luther's 
eloquence  to  embark  with  zealous  fidelity  in  the 
cause  of  the  Reformation. 

The  effect  of  the  contest  upon  Melaucthon  was 
especially  marked.  He  was  then  but  twenty-three, 
and  as  yet  had  employed  his  time  principally  in  the 
duties  of  his  Greek  professorship,  and  in  the  culti- 
vation of  general  literature.  Already,  indeed,  he 
had  favored  Luther's  projects  ;  he  too  thought  that 
Christianity  should  be  delivered  from  the  impurity 
•and  bigotry  of  superstition  ;  but  his  wishes  had 
hitherto  originated  rather  in  the  native  candor  and 
sweetness  of  his  disposition,  than  in  any  insight 
into  the  intricate  and  abominable  ways  of  the 
papal  hierarch}'.  But  the  conference  at  Leipsic 
had  a  wonderful  effect  upon  his  intellect.  He  w'as 
*  L.  Epp.,  I.,  290. 

I.utlier.  15 


338  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

enliglitened  and  fired  by  Luther's  eloquence.  This 
debate  first  turned  Lis  attention  to  theology,  and 
determined  him  to  devote  his  elegant  attainments 
and  his  fine  talents  *  to  ecclesiastical  pursuits. 
Luther's  sound  reasonings,  supported  by  constant 
appeals  to  the  Scripture,  instantly  convinced  him  of 
the  majesty  of  the  new  tenets,  and  won  him  to  their 
life-long  and  enthusiastic  advocacy.  The  gain  to 
Luther  in  the  complete  acquisition  of  Melancthou 
to  his  cause,  richly  repaid  him  for  all  the  vexation 
and  turmoil  of  the  debate. 

In  one  of  his  letters,  Melancthon  thus  refers  to 
the  actors  in  the  conference  : 

"Eck  was  much  admired  for  his  many  and 
striking  iiigenuities.  You  know  Carlstadt ;  he  is 
certainly  a  man  of  worth,  and  of  extraordinary  eru- 
dition. As  to  Luther,  whom  I  have  long  known 
most  intimately,  his  lively  genius,  his  learning  and 
eloquence,  are  the  objects  of  my  admiration.  And 
it  is  impossible  not  to  be  in  love  with  his  truly  sin- 
cere and  Christian  spirit."* 

We  are  confident  that  this  recital  will  not  seem 
tedious,  for  the  ecclesiastical  contest  at  Leipsic  was 
the  entering  wedge  Avhicli  split  the  boasted  unity  of 
the  Koman  see  in  twain ;  it  was  a  rent  in  the  seam- 
less garment  of  the  papac}^  which  God  meant 
should  never  again  be  reunited. 

*  Melancthou,  0pp.,  Letter  to  Ecolampadius. 


OF  MARTIN   LUTHER.  330 


CHAPTER   XXYIII. 

The  Leipsic  disputation,  counting  the  number- 
less polemical  writings  to  which  it  gave  birth — let- 
ters from  Eck  and  his  friends,  replies  by  Luther 
and  his  associates — occupied  the  remaining  portion 
of  the  year  1519. 

Eck  had  been  especially  angered  by  Melancthou's 
presumption  in  assuming  to  meddle  with  topics  of 
divinity.  The  brave  assistance  which  the  "  boyish 
grammarian,"  as  the  inflated  schoolman  contemptu- 
ously styled  the  St.  John  of  the  Reformation,  had 
lent  Carlstadt  in  his  straits,  prevailed  upon  him  to 
pen  an  acrimonious  attack  upon  "  this  feeble  mut- 
terer  of  trite  Greek  maxims." 

Melancthon's  reply,  though  it  occupied  but  five 
folio  pages,  was  temperate,  elegant,  acute,  and 
crushing.  It  displaj-ed  the  consummate  scholar, 
and  the  charitable  Christian ;  and  although  it  was 
the  first  time  that  Reuchlin's  pupil  had  fleshed  his 
sword  in  this  contest,  it  gave  convincing  proof  of 
his  tremendous  power  as  a  controversialist,  "  able 
to  discern  truth  in  its  most  intricate  connections  and 
combinations,"  and  able  to  uncloak  error  even  when 
it  masqueraded  in  the  subtlest  garb  of  sanctity. 

In  the  meantime  Eck  had  written  to  the  elector, 
and  endeavored  to  persuade  that  sagacious  prince 
to  burn  Luther's  writings,  as  infamous  Bohemian 
heresies,  and  to  thrust  him  forth  from  his  domains 


'MO  THE   LIFE  AND  TIMES 

as  a  contumacious  scholastic.  Frederick  contented 
himself  with  placing  this  letter  in  the  hands  of 
Luther  and  Carlstadt,  and  with  forwarding  to  the 
furious  Ingolstadt  doctor  a  cold,  formal  expression 
of  his  desire,  as  a  sovereign,  to  establish  peace  and 
religion  by  suppressing  fierceness,  malignity,  and 
dogmatism.* 

Luther  responded  to  these  assaults  by  the  pub- 
lication of  a  w^ork  in  which  he  unfolded  the  reasons, 
scriptural  and  other,  upon  wdiicli  his  Leipsic  theses 
were  based,  and  to  which  he  appended  a  terse  and 
keen  account  of  the  recent  dispute,  and  appealed 
from  the  senseless  ravings  of  his  adversaries  to  the 
candor  and  common-sense  of  mankind.! 

About  this  time  the  w^ar  broke  out  between 
Luther  and  Emser,  who  had  now  grown  from  a 
confidential  chancellor  to  a  professor  at  Leipsic. 
The  Wittemberg  doctor's  former  host  of  Dresden 
wrote  Dr.  Zack,  a  zealous  Romanist  of  Prague,  a 
letter,  in  which  his  design  appeared  to  be  to  de- 
prive the  Hussites  of  their  notion  that  the  new 
heresiarch  belonged  to  their  party.  Luther  saw 
that  the  cunning  Leipsicer,  by  aj^pearing  to  clear 
him  from  the  suspicion  of  adhering  to  the  unpopu- 
lar tenets  of  John  Huss,  meant  to  ally  him  wdth  the 
yet  more  unpopular  dogmas  of  Bohemia ;  and  he 
accordingly  tore  aside  the  veil  imder  which  Emser 
concealed  his  hostilitj'.  With  this  view  he  wrote  a 
letter  to  the  new-fiedged  professor,  which  he  con- 

*  Stebbing,  Hist.  Kef.  ;  Seckendorf,  Melch.  Ad.,  etc. 
t  Ibid.     Epist.  Lutheri,  liber  I.,  p.  122 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  341 

eluded  with  these  words,  so  indicative  of  his  char- 
acter :  "My  maxim  is,  to  love  all  men,  but  to  fear 
none."" 

Early  in  1520,  the  electors  of  the  German 
empire  assembled  at  Frankfort  to  select  Max- 
imilian's successor.  To  this  ancient  city  all  eyes 
were  directed.  The  reformers  hoped  that  some 
friendly  head  might  wear  the  imperial  coronet ;  the 
Vatican  had  spread  the  web  of  its  subtle  policy 
over  Europe  to  prevent  the  sceptre  of  the  mediaeval 
Csesars  from  passing  into  hostile  hands ;  while 
three  powerful  princes  lavished  their  gold  with  un- 
stinted hand,  and  intrigued  with  Machiavellian 
cunning  to  secure  the  imperial  purple.  Francis  I. 
of  France,  Henry  VIII.  of  England,  and  the  young- 
king  of  Spain,  all  aspired  to  succeed  to  Maximilian's 
throne. 

After  a  prolonged  and  doubtful  consideration, 
during  which  the  imperial  purple  was  repeatedly 
pressed  upon  the  acceptance  of  Frederick  of  Sax- 
ony, the  choice  fell  upon  the  Spanish  king,  after- 
wards so  celebrated  as  the  emperor  Charles  V. 
This  was  Frederick's  earnest  advice.  He  felt  him- 
self, so  he  said,  inadequate  to  the'  position.  The 
Turk  was  at  the  gates  of  the  empire,  and  the  intrep- 
id Charles,  whose  hereditary  possessions  of  Aus- 
tria bordered  on  the  threatened  frontier,  was  its 
natural  defender.'!' 

Leo,  who  had   employed   the  Avliole   pontifical 
interest  to  prevent  this  selection,  no  sooner  learned 
«  D'Aubigue,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  72,  73.  f  ruUiivicini,  I.,  70. 


342  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

through  his  legate  that  Charles  was  certain  to  be 
elected,  than,  by  one  of  those  adroit  and  politic 
turns  which  have  always  distinguished  the  tortuous 
statesmanship  of  the  Vatican,  he  sped  with  volun- 
teer haste  to  congratulate  this  new-croAvned  Ca?sar 
who  had  refused  to  succumb  to  his  arts, 

Charles  was  in  Spain  at  the  time  of  the  electoral 
convention.  Quitting  Madrid  in  May,  1520,  he  was 
crowned  at  Aix-la-Chapelle  on  the  22d  of  the  fol- 
lowing October."" 

The  reformers  were  greatly  def)ressed  by  the 
selection  of  the  young  Spanish  king.  They  thought 
rightly,  as  the  sequel  proved,  that  it  boded  no  good 
to  the  neAV  theology.  They  could  not  understand 
why  the  friendly  elector  had  so  resolutely  put  aside 
the  thrice-proffered  crown  of  the  empire.  But  Avhat 
was  hid  from  human  vision,  was  clear  to  God. 
"  He  selected,"  if  we  may  borrow  the  elegant  lan- 
guage of  D'Aubignd,  "  a  prince  in  the  freshness  and 
vigor  of  youth,  and  to  whom  every  thing  seemed  to 
announce  a  long  reign — a  prince  whose  sceptre  ex- 
tended over  a  considerable  part  of  the  old  world, 
and  the  new  world  which  Christopher  Columbus 
had  recently  added  to  Christendom,  so  that,  ac- 
cording to  a  celebrated  saying,  the  sun  never  went 
down  upon  his  vast  dominions  ;  and  to  this  imperial 
colossus  he  opposed  that  lowly  Reformation  begun 
in  the  secluded  cell  of  a  convent  at  Erfurth  by  the 
anguish  and  the  sighs  of  a  poor  monk. 

*  Pallavicini,  I.,  79.     See  the  various  historians  of  the  empire 
under  Charles  V. 


.       OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  343 

"  The  liistory  of  this  monarch  was  destined,  it 
should  seem,  to  teach  the  world  a  new  lesson.  It 
was  to  show  the  nothingness  of  human  strength 
when  opposed  to  the  veriest  weakness  of  God.  If 
a  prince  friendly  to  Luther  had  been  called  to  the 
imperial  throne,  the  success  of  the  Reformation 
might  have  been  ascribed  to  that  protection.  If 
even  an  emperor  opposed  to  the  new  doctrines,  but 
yet  a  weak  ruler,  had  worn  the  diadem,  the  triumph 
might  have  been  attributed  to  the  imperial  imbe- 
cility. But  it  Avas  the  haughty  conqueror  at  Pavia 
who  was  destined  to  veil  his  pride  and  lower  his 
crest  before  the  omnipotence  of  the  sacred  oracles  ; 
and  Cln-istendom  beheld  with  awe  the  man  who 
found  it  an  eas}^  task  to  drag  Francis  I.  a  prisoner 
to  Madrid,  obliged  to  lower  his  sword  before  the 
sou  oi  a  poor  mmer.   -  ^ 

Luther  early  foresaw  that  his  cause  must  appear 
before  Charles  for  final  adjudication;  he  determined 
therefore  to  reach  the  ear,  and,  if  possible,  to  en- 
list the  heart  of  this  monarch  in  the  Reformation 
before  the  clamors  of  his  enemies  imbittered  him 
with  prejudice.  His  letter  to  Charles  was  modest 
and  submissive,  but  earnest  and  eloquent. 

"  Nothing,''  he  said,  "  is  nearer  my  heart  than 
that  I  may  be  permitted  to  discharge  my  duty 
quietly  in  my  own  little  sphere.  The  violent  and 
deceitful  practices  of  others  have  compelled  me  to 
appear  in  public ;  but  the  very  best  men  living,  as 
well  as  my  own  conscience,  would  witness  that  my 
♦  D'Aiibigne,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  80,  81. 


344  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES     • 

sole  object  is  the  propagation  of  evangelical  truth, 
in  opposition  to  the  superstitions  of  hnman  tradi- 
tion. For  this  cause  during  almost  three  years  I 
have  been  persecuted  in  every  way  that  my  leuemies 
could  invent.  In  vain  have  I  proposed  terms  of 
peace,  in  vain  have  I  ofl'ered  to  be  silent,  in  vain 
have  I  begged  for  information  and  correction  of  my 
errors.  After  having  tried  all  methods  without 
success,  I  have  judged  it  advisable  to  follow  the 
example  of  St.  Athanasius  in  aj^jjlying  to  your  im- 
perial majesty,  if  so  be  it  may  please  God  in  that 
w^ay  to  protect  his  own  cause.  » 

"  I  humbly  therefore  beseech  your  most  serene 
majesty  that,  as  you  bear  the  sword  for  the  praise 
of  the  good  and  the  punishment  of  the  bad,  j'ou 
would  deign  to  take  under  the  shadow  of  your  wings 
the  cause  of  truth ;  and  as  to  myself,  I  crave  your 
support  not  one  moment  longer  than  I  shall  appear 
to  have  reason  on  my  side.  Abandon  me  the  mo- 
ment I  am  found  impious  or  heretical.  All  I  beg  is, 
that  my  doctrines,  whether  true  or  false,  iaa,j  not 
be  condemned  unheard  and  without  examination. 
If  your  most  sacred  majest}^  by  your  interposition, 
should  prevent  the  exercise  of  tyrannical  power, 
such  a  conduct  would  be  worthy  of  your  royal  and 
imperial  throne,  would  adorn  yoin*  government,  and 
consecrate  to  posterity  the  age  in  which  you  live."* 

Charles  received  and  laid  aside  this  singular 
letter,  but  he  did  not  deign  to  reply  to  it. 

But  while  Luther  was  thus  endeavoring  to  secui's 

*  Epistol.  Lutheri  ad  Carolum.  V. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  345 

the  cooperation  of  the  boyish  emperor,  the  assaults 
of  his  fanatical  opponents  were  continued  without 
cessation.  The  two  inimical  universities  of  Cologne 
and  Louvain  had  recently  not  only  branded  his  writ- 
ings as  heretical,  but  their  infamous  doctors  openly 
proclaimed  that  any  one  Avho  should  kill  Luther 
would  be  without  sin.-' 

"  These  homicidal  words  were  destined  to  pro- 
duce their  fruit,"  says  one  of  Luther's  biographers. 
"  Standing  one  day  in  front  of  the  Augustine  clois- 
ter, a  desperado,  who  held  a  cocked  pistol  concealed 
under  his  cloak,  accosted  the  Saxon  monk  with  men- 
acing brutality.  '  Why  do  you  go  thus  alone  ?'  he 
queried.  '  I  am  in  God's  hands,'  was  the  calm  re- 
sponse ;  '  he  is  my  strength  and  shield.'  At  these 
words  the  would-be  assassin  turned  pale,  and  fled 
trembling  away."t 

Stimulated  by  these  bigoted  assaults,  Luther's 
militant  disposition  was  not  likely  to  decrease.  He 
grew  daily  in  his  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and  in  his 
detestation  of  the  chicanery  of  Borne.  He  devel- 
oped rapidly  under  the  painful  tuition  of  persecu- 
tion, and  under  the  necessity  of  incessant  inquiry 
in  order  fitly  to  respond  to  his  assailants. 

"  I  have  taken  my  part,"  he  wrote  at  about  this 
time.  "  I  despise  the  fury  of  Rome,  and  contemn 
lier  forms.  No  more  reconciliation,  no  more  com- 
munication with  her  for  ever.  Let  her  condemn 
me,  let  her  burn  my  writings.  Li  my  turn,  I  will 
condemn  and  publicly  burn  the  pontifical  law,  that 
*  L.  Epp.  L,  383.  t  Keith,  L.  Umstande,  p.  89. 

15* 


346  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

nest  of  every  heresy.  The  moderation  I  have  hith- 
erto shown  has  been  unavailing ;  I  now  renounce 
it."-'^ 

These  bold  words  startled  the  empire,  and  made 
"Wittemberg  heave  in  an  earthquake  of  excitement. 
Many  of  the  daring  monk's  best  friends  trembled 
for  him,  and  esteemed  him  lost  both  in  this  world 
and  the  next.  "  We  are,"  wrote  Melancthon,  "  in  a 
state  of  extraordinary  expectation.  I  would  rather 
die  than  be  separated  from  Luther ;  but  if  God 
does  not  help  us,  we  shall  all  perish."t  A  little 
later  he  wrote  again  :  "Our  dear  Luther  is  still  alive, 
but  the  Eoman  sycophants  are  making  every  exer- 
tion to  put  him  to  death.  Let  us  pray  that  this 
sole  avenger  of  sacred  theology  may  long  sur- 
vive."! 

But  if  the  parasites  of  Eome  howled  like  hungry 
jackals  for  the  blood  of  the  reformer,  God  sent  him 
some  consolation  in  this  threatening  hour.  A  num- 
ber of  new  friends  wrote  him  sympathizing  and 
hopeful  letters,  in  which  they  unhesitatingly  espoused 
his  cause. 

The  sword  intended  to  slay  him  was  forging  in  the 
Vatican,  but  heroes  were  springing  up  in  Germany 
to  shield  him  with  their  bodies.  At  the  moment 
when  the  bishoj^s  were  chafiug  with  rage,  when 
princes  kept  silence,  when  the  people  were  in  ex- 
pectation, and  when  the  first  murmurs  of  the  thun- 
der were  beginning  to  be  heard  from  the  seven  hills, 

*  L.  Epp.  I.,  462.     July  10,  1520. 

t  Coruus  Kcfor.  I.,  IGO,  163.  $  Ibid. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  347 

God  aroused  the  German  nobles  to  make  a  rampart 
for  liis  servant, 

Sylvester  of  Scliaumburg,  one  of  the  most  pow- 
erful knights  of  Franconia,  sent  his  son  to  Wittem- 
berg  at  this  time  with  a  letter  for  the  reformer. 
"  Your  life  is  in  danger,"  wrote  he.  "  If  the  sup- 
port of  the  elector,  the  princes,  or  the  magistrates 
fail  you,  I  entreat  you  to  beware  of  going  to  Bohe- 
mia, where  in  former  times  learned  men  have  had 
much  to  undergo ;  rather  come  to  me.  God  willing, 
T  shall  soon  have  collected  more  than  a  hundred 
gentlemen,  and  with  their  help  I  shall  be  able  to 
protect  you  from  every  danger." 

"  Francis  of  Sickingen,  the  hero  of  his  age, 
whom  Melancthon  pronounced  a  'peerless  orna- 
ment of  German  knighthood,'  and  to  whose  intrepid 
courage  the  romancists  and  minne  -  singers  have 
borne  abundant  witness,  loved  Luther  because  he 
found  him  worthy  of  being  loved,  and  also  because 
he  was  hated  by  the  monks.  '  My  services,  my 
goods,  my  body,  all  that  I  possess,'  wrote  he  to 
Luther, '  are  at  your  disposal.  You  desire  to  main- 
tain the  Christian  truth ;  I  am  ready  to  aid  you  in 
that  work.'  Harmurth  of  Cronberg,  another  influ- 
ential noble,  held  a  similar  purpose. 

"  Ulric  Van  Hlltten  also,  the  poet,  orator,  and 
valiant  knight  of  the  sixteenth  century,  never  ceased 
speaking  in  Luther's  favor.  Htittcn  wrot-e  the 
reformer,  '  Let  us  have  done  with  words ;  it  is  with 
swords  and  bows,  with  javelins  and  bombs,  that  we 
must  crush  the  fury  of  the  devil.'     Luther,  on  re- 


348  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

ceiving  this  letter,  exclaimed,  '  I  will  uot  have  re- 
course to  arms  and  bloodshed  iu  defence  of  the 
gospel.  Bj  the  word  the  earth  has  been  subdued, 
by  the  word  the  church  has  been  saved,  and  by  the 
word  also  it  shall  be  reestablished.'  '  I  do  not  de- 
spise his  offer,'  he  said  again,  when  Schaumberg's 
letter  reached  him, '  but  I  will  rely  upon  nothing  but 
Jesus  Christ.' 

"  It  was  not  thus  that  the  Roman  pontiffs  spoke 
when  they  waded  in  the  blood  of  the  Albigenses 
and  the  Waldenses.  Hiitten  recognized  the  differ- 
ence between  Luther's  method  and  his  own.  He 
accordingly  wrote  him,  with  noble-mindedness,  'As 
for  me,  I  am  busied  with  the  affairs  of  men ;  but 
you  soar  far  higher,  and  are  occupied  with  those  of 
God.'  He  then  set  out  to  win,  if  possible,  Charles 
and  Ferdinand  to  the  cause  of  truth."* 

At  this  same  time  two  distinguished  priests, 
afterwards  powerful  auxiliaries,  rallied  to  Luther's 
side.  The  first  of  these.  Doctor  Botzhemus  Abste- 
mius,  canon  of  Constance,  wrote  him,  "Now  that 
you  have  become  the  friend  of  the  universe,  or  at 
least  of  the  better  part  of  it,  that  is,  of  good  and 
true  Christians,  you  must  also  become  mine,  whether 
you  will  or  not.  I  am  so  delighted  with  your  writ- 
ings, that  nothing  gives  me  greater  pleasure  than  to 
be  living  at  a  time  when  not  only  profane,  but  also 
sacred  literature  is  resuming  its  pristine  splendor."t 

The  other  was  Gaspard  Hedio,  a  preacher  at 

«  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  II. ,  pp.  89-90. 

t  Botzheiin  and  his  Friends,  by  Wachner,  p.  107. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  349 

Basle,  who  said,  "  Most  dear  sir,  I  see  that  your 
doctrine  is  of  God,  and  that  it  cannot  be  destroyed ; 
that  it  becomes  daily  more  efficacious,  and  that 
every  hour  it  is  winning  souls  to  Christ  by  turning 
them  away  from  sin,  and  attracting  them  to  real 
piety.  Go  on  then,  O  liberator;  exert  all  your 
power  to  restore  the  yoke  of  Christ,  so  light  and 
easy  to  bear.  Be  yourself  the  general,  and  we  will 
follow  after  you,  like  soldiers  whom  nothing'  can 
tear  from  you."^' 

These  letters  cheered  Luther  almost  beyond 
belief.  Of  an  ardent  temperament,  he  singularly 
enjoyed  the  expression  of  the  good  will  and  sym- 
pathy of  others.  His  iron  firmness  and  his  rigid 
adherence  to  those  principles  which  he  esteemed 
right,  would  have  carried  him  single-handed  through 
a  combat  with  the  whole  opposing  universe.  So 
long  as  conscience  cried  Amen  to  his  actions,  noth- 
ing could  daunt  him.  Still  he  appreciated  to  the 
full  auxiliary  assistance,  and  his  spirits  were  always 
at  high  or  ebb  tide  as  his  friends  smiled  or  frowned 
upon  him. 

Luther  was  emboldened  by  these  cojumenda- 
tions  from  the  clergy,  and  especially  by  the  cordial 
support  of  Sickingen,  Hlitten,  and  others  of  the 
German  nobility,  to  write  and  publish  in  June, 
1520,  his  famous  Appeal  to  His  Imperial  Majesty,  and 
to  the  Christian  Nobility  of  the  German  Nation,  on  the 
Reformation  of  Christianity. '\ 

*  Kappeu's  Nachlese,  qnoted  in  D'Aubigue,  at  p.  91. 
t  L.  0pp.  (L.)  XVII. ,  457,  502. 


350  THE   LIFE  AND  TIMES 

In  this  pamphlet,  one  of  the  most  eloquent  and 
magnificent  of  his  writings,  Luther  portrayed  the 
prevailing  abuses  with  a  pen  of  fire ;  his  glittering 
rhetoric  absolutely  stung  the  Roman  see  to  death. 
The  vigor,  life,  perspicuity,  and  generous  boldness 
that  breathed  through  it,  made  the  appeal  singu- 
•  lary  poj)ular  ;  four  thousand  copies  were  sold  within 
a  week;*  an  unprecedented  sale  for  that  age,  and 
ere  long  it  had  reached  the  most  distant  castles  of 
those  lords  to  whom  it  was  addressed. 

In  his  exordium  to  this  remarkable  pamphlet, 
Luther  says : 

"  It  is  not  through  presumption  that  I,  a  man  of 
the  people,  venture  to  speak  to  your  lordships. 
The  misery  and  oppression  which  at  this  hour 
weigh  down  all  the  states  of  Christendom,  and  par- 
ticularly Germany,  extort  from  me  a  cry  of  distress. 
I  must  call  fbr  help ;  I  must  see  if  God  will  not  give 
his  Spirit  to  some  man  in  our  country,  and  thus 
stretch  forth  his  hand  to  save  our  wretched  nation. 

"  But  the  first  requisite  is,  not  to  put  confidence 
in  our  own  strength,  or  in  our  lofty  wisdom.  If  we 
begin  a  good  work  with  confidence  in  ourselves, 
God  overthrows  it,  Frederick  I.,  Frederick  II.,  and 
many  other  emperors  besides,  before  whom  the 
world  has  trembled,  have  been  trodden  under  foot 
by  the  j)opes,  because  they  trusted  more  in  their 
own  strength  than  in  God." 

Luther  then  proceeded  to  a  description  of  the 
Roman  citadel: 

*  Corpus  Eefor. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHER.  351 

"  The  Eomans  have  raised  around  themselves 
three  walls  to  protect  them  against  every  kind  of 
reformation.  Have  they  been  attacked  by  the  tem- 
poral power?  tliey  have  asserted  that  it  had  no 
authority  over  them,  and  that  the  spiritual  power  was 
superior  to  it.  Have  they  been  rebuked  by  Holy 
Scripture?  they  have  replied,  that  no  one  is  able 
to  interjjret  it  except  the  pope.  Have  they  been 
threatened  with  a  council?  the  answer  was  ready: 
no  one  but  the  sovereign  pontiff  has  authority  to 
convoke  one. 

"  They  have  thus  deprived  us  of  the  three  rods 
destined  to  correct  them,  and  have  given  themselves 
up  to  every  wickedness.  But  now,  may  God  be  our 
helper,  and  give  us  one  of  those  trumpets  that  over- 
threw the  walls  of  Jericho.  With  our  breath  let  us 
throw  down  these  barriers  of  paper  which  the  Ro- 
mans have  built  around  them,  and  upraise  the  rods 
which  punish  the  wicked  by  exposing  the  wiles  of 
the  devil." 

Luther  then  assails  the  sacerdotal  caste,  and 
asserts  the  democracy  of  Christianity  : 

"  It  has  been  said  that  the  pope,  the  bishops, 
the  priests,  and  all  those  who  people  the  convents, 
form  the  ecclesiastical  or  spiritual  state;  and  that 
the  princes,  the  nobility,  the  citizens,  and  the  peas- 
ants form  the  secular  or  lay  estate.  This  is  a  fine 
story.  Let  no  one,  however,  be  grieved.  All  Chris- 
tians belong  to  the  spiritual  state,  and  there  is  no 
other  difference  between  them  than  that  which  arises 
from  the  functions  which  they  discharge.    We  have 


852  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

all  one  baptism,  one  faith,  and  it  is  this  which  con- 
stitutes the  spiritual  man.  The  unction,  the  tonsure, 
the  cowl,  ordination,  consecration,  by  a  bishop  or 
the  pope,  may  make  a  hypocrite — they  cannot  of 
themselves  make  a  Christian.  "We  are  9.II  conse- 
crated priests  by  baptism,  as  St.  Peter  says.  Ye  are 
priests  and  Icings ;  although  it  does  not  belong  to  all 
to  exercise  such  offices,  for  no  one  can  take  what  is 
common  to  all  without  the  consent  of  the  com- 
munity. But  if  we  possess  not  the  divine  consecra- 
tion, the  pope's  anointing  can  never  make  a  priest, 

"  If  ten  brothers,  sons  of  a  king,  having  equal 
claims  to  the  inheritance,  select  ono  of  themselves 
to  administer  it  for  the  whole,  they  would  all  be 
kings,  yet  only  one  of  them  would  be  the  adminis- 
trator of  the  common  power.  So  it  is  with  the 
church.  If  a  few  pious  laymen  were  banished  to  a 
desert  place,  and  if,  not  having  among  them  a  priest 
consecrated  by  a  bishop,  they  should  agree  to 
choose  one  of  their  number,  married  or  not,  this 
man  would  be  as  truly  a  priest  as  if  all  the  bishops 
in  the  world  had  consecrated  him.  Thus  Augus- 
tine, Ambrose,  and  Cyprian  were  elected. 

"  Hence  it  follows  that  laymen  and  priests, 
princes  and  bishops,  or,  as  they  say,  the  clergy  and 
the  laity,  have  nothing  to  distinguish  from  each 
other  but  their  functions." 

Luther  in  like  manner  overthrew  the  two  oth- 
er Eoman  assumptions,  that  the  pope  alone  was 
competent  to  interpret  the  Scriptures,  and  that  no 
council  could  be  convoked  but  through  the  pontiff. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  353 

He  then  pressed  on  to  a  direct  attack  upon  the 
papacy : 

"  It  is  a  horrible  thing  to  behold  the  man  who 
styles  himself  Christ's  vicegerent  displaying  a  mag- 
nificence that  no  emperor  can  equal.  Is  this  like  the 
poor  Jesus,  or  the  humble  Peter?  He  is,  they  say, 
the  lord  of  the  universe  ;  but  Christ,  whose  vicar  he 
boasts  of  being,  has  said.  My  hingdom  is  not  of  tins 
loorld.  Can  the  dominions  of  a  vicar  extend  be- 
yond those  of  his  superior  ? 

"  But  of  what  use  is  this  ponderous  ecclesiastical 
machinery  of  Rome?  I  will  tell  you.  Ital}^  and 
Germany  have  many  convents,  religious  founda- 
tions, and  richly  endowed  benefices.  How  can  this 
wealth  be  drawn  to  Rome?  Cardinals  have  been 
created;  these  cloisters  and  jsrelacies  have  been 
given  to  them,  and  now  Italy  is  almost  deserted ;  the 
convents  are  in  ruins,  the  bishoprics  devoured,  the 
cities  decayed,  the  inhabitants  corrupted,  religious 
worship  is  expiring,  and  preaching  is  abolished. 
And  why?  That  all  this  wealth  must  go  to  feed 
pampered  Rome.  The  dreaded  Turk  himself  would 
never  have  so  ruined  Italy. 

"And  now  that  they  have  thus  sucked  all  the 
blood  from  the  veins  of  their  own  hapless  country, 
these  vampires  hasten  Avith  greed}^  appetite  into 
undrained  Germany.  They  begin  tenderly  ;  but  let 
us  be  on  our  guard,  or  Germany  will  ere  long  be 
like  Italy.  "VVe  have  already  our  quota,  of  cardinals. 
Before  the  dull  Germans  comprehend  oar  design — 
so  they  reason  with  pernicious  glee — they  will  have 


354  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

neither  penny  nor  farthing  left.  Antichrist  must 
possess  the  treasures  of  the  earth.  Thirty  or  forty 
cardinals  will  be  created  in  one  day.  Bamberg  will 
be  given  to  one,  the  bishopric  of  Wirtzberg  to 
another ;  rich  cures  will  be  attached  to  them,  until 
the  cities  and  churches  are  desolate.  Then  the 
pope  will  say,  '  I  am  Christ's  vicar,  and  the  shep- 
herd of  his  Hock.  Let  the  Germans  be  submis- 
sive.' 

"  What,  shall  we  Germans  endure  such  robberies 
and  extortions  from  the  pope  ?  If  the  kingdom  of 
France  has  been  able  to  defend  itself,  why  should 
we  permit  ourselves  to  be  thus  ridiculed  and  laughed 
at  ?  Oh,  if  they  contented  themselves  with  despoil- 
ing us  of  our  goods.  But  they  lay  waste  the 
churches,  fleece  the  sheep  of  Christ,  abolish  relig- 
ious worship,  and  annihilate  the  word  of  God. 

"  Hear  this.  Oh  denizens  of  the  empire.  Let  us 
check  this  desolation  and  wickedness.  If  we  desire 
to  march  against  the  Turks,  let  us  first  march 
against  these,  the  worst  of  Turks.  If  we  hang 
thieves,  and  decapitate  highway  robbers,  let  us 
not  permit  Komish  avarice  to  escape,  which  is  the 
greatest  of  thieves  and  robbers,  and  that  too  in  the 
name  of  St.  Peter  and  of  Jesus  Christ.  Who  can 
suffer  this?  Who  can  be  silent?  All  that  the  pope 
possesses,  has  he  not  gained  it  by  plunder?  for 
he  has  neither  bought  it  nor  inherited  it  from  St. 
Peter,  nor  gained  it  by  the  sweat  of  his  brow. 
Whence  then  has  he  all  this  ? 

"And  now  I  come  to  that  sluggish  troop  the 


or  MARTIN  LUTHER.  355 

monks,  wlio  promise  mucli,  but  do  little.  Do  not  be 
angry,  my  dear  sirs,  my  intentions  are  good ;  what 
I  say  is  a  truth,  at  once  sweet  and  bitter — this :  no 
more  cloisters,  and  no  more  monasteries  for  mendi- 
cant friars.  We  have  indeed  too  many  already, 
and  would  to  God  they  Avere  all  pulled  down. 
Strolling  through  a  countrj'  like  beggars  never  has 
done,  and  never  can  do  good." 

Luther  next  advocated  a  startling  innovation — 
nothing  less  than  the  marriage  of  the  clergy ;  this, 
ho  thought,  would  prove  a  panacea  for  the  prevail- 
ing licentiousness  of  the  priesthood.  Since  he  was 
the  first  of  the  medigeval  reformers  who  assailed  the 
Iloman  doctrine  of  clerical  celibacy,  it  is  of  interest 
and  importance  to  quote  his  first  crude  words  uj)on 
emerging  from  the  barbarism  of  that  error  : 

"  To  what  a  sad  state  have  the  clei'gy  fallen,  and 
how  many  jDriests  do  we  find  burdened  with  women 
and  children  and  remorse,  and  yet  no  one  comes  to 
their  aid.  It  is  all  very  well  for  the  pope  and  the 
bishops  to  let  things  go  on  as  before,  and  for  that 
to  continue  lost  which  is  now  lost ;  but  I  am  deter- 
mined to  save  my  conscience  and  to  ojjen  my  mouth 
freely ;  after  that,  let  the  pope,  the  bishops,  and 
any  one  else  who  pleases,  take  oflfence  at  it.  I  as- 
sert that  according  to  the  appointment  of  Christ 
and  his  apostles,  each  city  should  have  a  pastor  or 
bishop,  and  that  this  pastor  may  have  a  Avife,  as  St. 
Paul  writes  to  Timoth}' :  A  hisliop  must  he  t/te  lius- 
hand  of  one  'ici/c,''-   and  as  is  still  practised  in  the 

*  1  Tim.  3  :  2. 


356  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Greek  cliurcli.  But  the  devil  lias  jiersuaded  the 
pope,  as  that  same  apostle  says  again  to  Timothy,* 
to  forbid  the  clergy  to  marry.  And  hence  have 
proceeded  miseries  so  numerous  that  we  cannot 
mention  all.  What  is  to  be  done  ?  How  can  Ave 
save  so  many  pastors  in  whom  we  have  no  fault  to 
find,  save  that  they  live  with  a  woman  to  whom  they 
would  with  all  their  heart  be  legitimately  married  ? 
Ah,  let  them  quiet  their  consciences.  Let  them 
take  this  woman  as  their  lawful  wife,  and  let  them 
live  virtuously  with  her,  not  troubling  themselves 
whether  the  pontiff  be  pleased  or  not.  The  salva- 
tion of  your  souls.  Oh  pastors,  is  of  greater  conse- 
quence to  you  than  tyrannical,  unnatural,  and  arbi- 
trary laws,  that  do  not  emanate  from  the  Lord." 

Luther  then  condemned  the  multitudinous  festi- 
vals of  the  church,  attacked  the  frequent  fasts,  and 
the  religious  fraternities,  proposed  a  sweeping  and 
radical  reformation  of  the  entire  ecclesiastical  sys- 
tem, and  added,  "  We  must  expel  from  every  Ger- 
man state  these  Eoman  satellites,  with  their  pre- 
tended benefits,  which  they  sell  us  at  their  weight 
in  gold,  and  which  are  downright  impositions.  They 
take  our  money,  and  for  what  ?  To  legalize  their 
ill-gotten  gains,  to  absolve  man  from  all  just  oaths, 
to  teach  us  to  be  wanting  in  fidelity,  to  instruct 
us  how  to  sin  with  ease,  and  to  lead  us  direct  to 
hell. 

"  No  ;  let  the  pope  restore  to  Germany  what  be- 
longs to  it.     Let  him  resign  to  us  our  empire.     Let 
«  1  Tim.  i  :  1-3. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  35V 

him  put  an  end  to  liis  taxes  and  extortions.  Let 
him  restore  our  liberty,  our  power,  our  property, 
our  bodies,  our  honor,  and  our  souls.  Let  the  Ger- 
man empire  be  all  that  an  empire  ought  to  be,  and 
let  the  sword  of  native  honor  and  government  no 
longei-  be  compelled  to  bow  in  homage  to  the  hypo- 
critical pretensions  of  a  pope. 

"Hearest  thou  this,  O  pontiif— not  most  holy, 
but  most  impious.  Ma}^  God,  from  his  throne  in 
heaven,  soon  hurl  thee  from  thy  throne  into  the 
bottomless  abyss."'"" 

This  tremendous  indictment,  so  new,  so  unheard 
of,  so  magnificent  in  its  audacity,  so  overpowering 
in  its  lofty  logic,  outdid  the  Koman  termagant  even 
in  the  favorite  pontifical  arena  of  anathemas.  Did 
the  most  famous  of  the  antique  orators  ever  in- 
veigh in  such  heroic  strains  in  the  forums  of  the 
"fierce  democracie?"'  Far  from  being  surprised 
that  so  many  of  the  German  states  separated  from 
Rome,  ought  we  not  rather  to  feel  astonished  that 
all  Germany  did  not  march  to  the  banks  of  the 
Tiber  to  resume  that  imperial  power  whose  attri- 
butes the  popes  had  so  impudently  usur2)ed  ?i' 

"  By  this  writing,"  says  an  eloquent  historian, 
"  the  confused  views  of  a  great  number  of  wise  men 
were  cleared  up.  The  Ptomish  usurpation  became 
palpably  evident  to  every  mind-  No  one  at  Wit- 
temberg  doubted  longer  that  the  pope  was  anti- 
christ.    Even  the  elector's  court,  so  circumspect  and 

•  L.  0pp.,  (L.,)  XVIL,  457,  502. 
tD'Aiibigne,  Vol.  II.,  p.  10-4. 


358  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

timid,  did  not  disapprove  of  tlie  reformer  ;  it  waited 
patiently.  But  tlie  nobility  and  the  people  did  not 
wait.  The  nation  was  reanimated.  Luther's  voice 
had  shaken  it ;  it  was  won  over,  and  rallied  round 
the  standard  that  he  had  uplifted.  Nothing  could 
be  mere  advantageous  to  the  reformer  than  this 
publication.  In  the  palaces  and  castles,  in  the 
homes  of  the  citizens,  and  in  the  cottages  of  the 
peasants,  all  was  now  prepared.  Luther  was  de- 
fended by  all  classes,  as  with  a  breastplate,  against 
the  sentence  of  excommunication  about  to  fall  upon 
the  head  of  this  prophet  of  the  people.  All  Ger- 
many was  on  fire.  The  papal  bull,  heretofore  so 
dreadful  to  the  populace,  was  now  ardently  desired. 
Let  it  arrive,  cried  they;  not  by  such  means  will 
this  conflagration  be  extinguished." 

Eck  had  proceeded  to  Kome  to  secure  the  con- 
demnation of  Luther,  as  we  have  seen.  Even  be- 
fore the  publication  of  the  "  Appeal,"  vague  rumors 
announced  his  success.  This  report  still  further 
aroused  the  militant  spirit  of  the  enthusiastic  monk. 
Determined  to  be  beforehand  with  the  pope,  and  to 
judge  his  judge,  his  tireless  pen  now  produced  his 
terrible  book  on  the  Captivity  of  Babylon,  in  which 
he  openly  repudiated  the  authority  of  the  pontiff, 
maintained  that  the  church  was  captive,  and  that 
Jesus  Christ,  constantly  profaned  in  the  idolatry  of 
the  mass,  and  set  aside  in  the  impious  formulas  of 
the  ritual,  was  held  a  prisoner  in  the  iron  clutches 
of  the  pope. 

He  explains  in  the  preface  with  daring  freedom 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  359 

the  manner  in  wliicli  lie  found  liimself  daily  driven 
more  and  more  to  extremities  by  tlie  conduct  of  liis 
adversaries  :  "  Whether  I  will  or  no,  I  become  each 
day  more  expert  and  learned  ;  driven  about  as  I  am, 
and  kept  in  constant  and  active  exercise  by  so 
many  adversaries  at  once. 

"  I  wrote  on  indulgences  two  years  ago,  but  in  a 
way  that  makes  me  repent  I  sent  forth  what  I  had 
Avritten  to  the  public.  At  that  time  I  was  still  pro- 
digio^isly  attached  to  the  papal  power,  so  that  I 
dared  not  totally  reject  indulgences.  I  saw  them, 
moreover,  sanctioned  by  great  numbers  of  intelli- 
gent persons — in  fact  I  was  left  to  roll  the  great 
stone  mj'self.  But  since  then,  thanks  to  Sylvester, 
and  the  other  brothers  who  so  warmly  defended 
them,  I  have  found  that  they  were  nothing  more 
than  mere  impostures,  invented  by  the  flatterers  of 
Eome  to  ruin  men's  faith  and  their  pockets. 
Would  to  God  that  I  could  induce  all  booksellers, 
and  all  readers  who  possess  my  writings  on  the  in- 
dulgences, to  put  them  into  the  fire,  and  to  replace 
them  by  this  single  proposition  :  Indulgences  are 
delusive  trash,  invented  hy  the  parasites  of  Rome! 

"  After  that,  Eck,  Emser,  and  their  gang  came 
to  tackle  me  on  the  question  of  the  pope's  suprem- 
ac}'.  I  am  bound  to  admit,  in  gratitude  to  these 
learned  personages,  that  the  trouble  which  they 
took  in  this  matter  was  not  without  its  effect,  and 
that  a  considerable  effect  on  my  advancement 
towards  ecclesiastical  emancipation. 

"  Previously  I  had  merely  denied  that  popery 


360  THE  LIFE   AND   TIMES 

was  founded  on  divine  riglit,  admitting  that  it  had 
liuman  sanction  on  its  side.  But,  after  having 
heard  the  ultra-subtle  subtleties  on  which  these 
poor  people  based  the  rights  of  their  idols,  I  have 
arrived  at  a  sounder  conclusion,  and  am  convinced 
that  the  reign  of  the  pope  is  that  of  Babylon,  and  of 
Ninirod  the  mighty  hunter.  And  so  I  request  all 
booksellers  and  readers,  that  nothing  may  be  want- 
ing to  the  success  of  ni}^  good  friends,  to  burn  also 
whatever  I  have  written  thus  far  concerning  the 
papal  supremacy,  and  to  remember  only  this  simple 
proposition  :  The  pope  is  the  might y  hunter,  the  hidden 
devil  of  the  Boman  see  /"''■' 

At  the  same  time,  in  order  that  it  might  be  seen 
that  he  was  assailing  popery  per  se,  rather  than  the 
pontiff  personally,  Luther  wrote  a  letter,  both  in 
German  and  Latin,  to  Leo  X,,  in  which  he  repudi- 
ated all  personal  ill-will  to  himself.f 

Like  its  companion  pamphlet,  the  "  Appeal  to 
the  German  Nobility,"  the  "  Captivity  of  Babylon" 
created  a  profound  sensation.  The  excitement  was 
intense.  The  nobles  and  the  people,  the  castles 
and  the  free  towns,  rivalled  each  other  in  zeal  and 
enthusiasm  for  Luther.  At  Nuremberg,  at  Stras- 
burg,  even  at  Mayence,  there  was  a  constant  strug- 
gle for  his  last  pamphlets.  The  celebrated  painter 
Lucas  Kranach  made  designs  for  his  works,];  and 
the  sheet  yet  wet  was  brought  from  the  press  under 
some  one's  cloak,  and  passed  eagerly  fi'om  shop  to 

.   *  Michelet,  pp.  61,  G2.  f  I^id. 

%  Seckendorf,  p.  148. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  361 

sliop.  The  pedantic  bookmen  of  the  German  trades' 
unions,  tlie  poetical  tinmen,  the  hterary  shoemakers 
devoured  the  good  news.  Worthy  Hans  Sacks,  the 
cobbler  poet,  raised  himself  above  his  wonted  com- 
monplace ;  he  left  his  shoe  half  made,  and  wrote 
his  most  high-flown  verses,  his  best  productions. 
He  sang  in  undertones,  the  Nightingale  of  Wittem- 
herg,  and  the  refrain  was  taken  up  by  the  listening 
P9pulace,  and  it  soon  resounded  through  Germany.* 

«  Michelet. 


16 


362  THE   LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTEK   XXIX. 

The  last  writings  of  the  Wittemberg  doctor  liacl 
stung  Kome  to  the  quick.  The  fierce  clamors  of 
the  ruffled  churchmen  obliged  the  easy  Florentine 
to  abstain  for  a  day  from  the  indolent  pleasures — 
the  chase,  the  theatre,  music,  chats  with  Angelo 
concerning  frescoes,  and  dilettante  criticisms  on 
Tuscan  love  poems — to  which  he  gave  his  life. 

The  pontiff,  angry  at  the  incessant  interruption 
which  this  irrepressible  monk  caused  in  the  lazy 
peace  of  his  ecclesiastical  career,  determined  to  end 
this  heresy  by  one  of  those  coups  de  main  which  had 
so  often  driven  liberty  and  free  lips  from  the  sanc- 
tuary in  the  good  old  time. 

On  the  15th  of  June,  1520,  Leo  penned  his  bull 
of  excommunication. 

Luther  had  long  been  prej)ared  for  the  anathe- 
ma of  the  pope.  He  had  even  anticipated  by  his 
last  pamphlet  the  pontifical  maledictions.  It  may 
be  regarded  as  an  important  circumstance  in  his 
life,  that  God  allowed  him  sufficient  intervals  be- 
tween the  various  severe  trials  of  his  strength  and 
knowledge  to  prepare  for  their  ajDproach.  Had  the 
thunders  of  the  Yatican  burst  suddenly  upon  his 
ears  at  the  outset  of  this  revolution,  his  habits  of 
early  reverence  might  have  laid  him  open  to  all  the 
terrors  which  they  were  intended  to  ins^Dire,  but  now 
experience  had  taught  him  to  estimate  their  force  : 


OF  MAKTIN   LUTHEE.  363 

he  was  not  ignorant  that  they  might  injure  him,  and 
even  lead  to  consequences  from  which  the  generahtj 
of  men  would  shrink  with  extreme  dread.  But  he 
knew  what  he  had  to  meet ;  no  shadowy  forms 
flitted  before  his  viyid  imagination  ;  the  pope  had 
no  longer  the  likeness  of  a  lieavenl}^  crown  upon  his 
head ;  the  dungeon  of  which  he  held  the  keys  was 
the  dungeon  of  an  ordinary  gaoler ;  and  the  con- 
demnation he  pronounced  depended  for  its  vitality 
solely  upon  his  power  to  open  and  shut  the  doors 
of  the  common  prison.  And  for  this  Luther  cared 
little.""  He  immediately  informed  Spalatin  of  the 
arrival  of  the  bull  at  Wittemberg,  and  spared  no 
expression  of  utter  contempt  for  this  now  useless 
instrument  of  papal  tyranny.  "  I  despise  it,"  he 
said,  "  as  a  lying  and  impious  document ;  the  hands 
are  the  hands  of  Leo,  hid  the  voice  is  the  voice  of  Ech. 
You  see  Christ  himself  condemned  therein.  I  shall 
treat  it  as  an  impudent  forgery.  I  am  freer  than 
ever,  being  confirmed  in  the  conviction — and  I 
needed  no  confirmation — that  the  pope  is  antichrist, 
and  that  his  throne  was  set  up  for  Satan. "t 

The  reception  of  the  bull  in  Germany  was  sul- 
len and  ominous.  Even  the  heads  of  the  various 
arch-episcopal  sees  were  no  more  than  coldly  ac- 
quiescent. The  German  prelates  had  been  pro- 
voked tki  the  pontifical  appointment  of  the  braggart 
Eck  to  bear  the  anathema  into  their  country  and 
promulgate  it.     It  had  heretofore  been  the  custom 

*  Stebbing's  Hist.  Eef.,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  C9,  70. 
t  L.  Epp.  I.,  19G. 


364  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

to  forward  the  bulls  directly  to  the  bishops ;  there- 
fore the  selection  of  this  upstart  schoolman  was 
unprecedented,  and  the  dignitaries  of  the  church 
stooped  only  to  the  most  formal  and  ceremonious 
action. 

But  Eck,  blooming  with  his  mushroom  honors, 
and  sweUing  with  pride,  hastened  exultingly  on 
flourishing  in  his  hand  that  papal  curse  before 
which  he  expected  to  see  his  hated  rival  succumb. 
The  cowardly  nuncio  was  not  destined  to  walk 
through  the  empire  on  roses.  He  had  posted  his 
bull  at  Meissen,  at  Merseburg,  at  Brandenburg, 
and  elsewhere.  But  in  the  first  of  these  cities  it  is 
said  to  have  been  posted  so  high  that  no  one  could 
read  it  ;*  and  in  Leipsic  so  great  a  revolution  had 
occurred  in  the  pubHc  sentiment  since  the  disputa- 
tion, tha4flie  students  of  the  university  went  through 
the  streets  chanting  satirical  verses  about  Eck,  and 
they  placarded  the  city  in  ten  different  places  with 
sharp  attacks  upon  the  new-fledged  nuncio  and  his 
stolen  thunder.f  Eck  was  so  terrified  at  these  pro- 
ceedings that,  like  his  predecessor  Tetzel,  he  fled 
for  safety  into  the  cloister  of  St.  Paul ;  nor  was  his 
fear  lessened  by  the  arrival  at  Leipsic  of  two  hun- 
dred students  from  Wittemberg,  who,  with  the  true 
esprit  de  corps  of  university  men,  at  once  fraternized 
with  their  Leipsic  brethren,  and  strolled  arm  in  arm 
through  the  town  boldly  inveighing  against  the  In- 
golstadt  doctor.:}: 

*  Seckendorf ;  Myconiua.  t  Meurer  ;  Cor.  Ee£ 

{  D'Aubigne. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  365 

On  learning  of  Lis  fright,  Luther  said,  "  I  have 
no  wish  to  see  him  shxin,  but  I  desire  that  his 
schemes  may  fail.""^' 

Eck  managed  to  escape  under  cover  of  the  night, 
and  he  gained  an  asjhim  at  Coburg  for  a  little, 
after  which  he  repaired  to  Erfurth.  He  did  not 
venture  to  approach  Wittemberg,  But  even  at 
Erfurth  his  bull  received  rough  usage.  It  was 
seized  by  the  students,  and  having  been  torn  in 
pieces,  the  fragments  were  flung  into  the  river  with 
a  witticism  :  "  Since  it  is  a  hull,  let  us  see  it  swim" — 
playing  on  the  word  bulla,  which  means  a  huhhie,  the 
seal  appended  to  the  bull,  and  hence  the  bull  itself.t 
"  Now,"  said  Luther  when  told  of  this  occurrence, 
"  the  pope's  bull  is  a  real  bull." 

Meantime  the  excitement  at  Wittemberg  was  in- 
tense, and  the  general  indignation  was  increased  by 
the  report  that  the  edict  of  the  pope  was  being  car- 
ried into  execution.  Luther's  writings  were  seized 
and  put  under  seal  at  lugolstadt.  Booksellers  who 
ventured  to  expose  his  writings  upon  their  shelves 
for  sale  were  imprisoned  at  various  places,  and  his 
printers  at  Mentz  had  their  press  destroyed  by  the 
pontifical  authority.  All  eyes  were  fixed  upon  the 
reformer  to  see  what  his  next  step  would  be.  The 
bold  monk  had  adopted  as  his  motto  that  grand  old 
Latin  legend,  Nulla  vestigiarefrorsum,  No  steps  back- 
v.'ard,  and  on  the  4tli  of  November,  1520,  he  pub- 
lished his  "  Treatise  against  the  Papal  Bull,"  direct- 

o  L.  Epp.,  I.,  492. 

t  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  II.,  p.  1:38.     Sec  note. 


3t';6  THE  LIFE  AND   TJMES 

ing  this  terrific  broadside  full  against  the  pontifical 
throne.*  On  the  17tli  of  November  he  appealed 
solemnly,  and  in  the  presence  of  a  notary  and  five 
witnesses,  from  Leo's  judgment  to  a  future  council ; 
and  on  the  10th  of  December,  1520,  he  marched 
with  great  pomp,  at  the  head  of  a  multitude  of 
learned  doctors,  students,  and  burghers,  to  the  east- 
ern gate  of  Wittemberg,  and  there  making  a  better 
application  of  the  great  Roman  principle,  built  the 
first  auto  da  fe  of  the  Reformation  ;  and  as  the 
flames  leaped  high  to  kiss  the  heavens,  Luther, 
dressed  in  the  full  insignia  of  his  order,  approached 
the  pile,  and  flinging  the  canon  laAv,  the  decretals, 
the  jjapal  extravagants,  some  writings  of  Eck  and 
Emser,  and  the  recent  bull  into  the  jubilant  flames, 
exclaimed  with  a  sonorous  voice,  "  Oh  Rome,  smcE 

THOU  HAST  \^XED  THE  HoLY  OnE  OF  THE  LOED,  MAY 
EVEELASTING  FIEE  VEX  AND  CONSUME  THEE  !" 

After  this  solemn  and  unprecedented  ceremony, 
Luther  returned  calmly  to  the  city,  the  crowd  of 
professors,  doctors,  students,  and  citizens  testifying 
their  warm  approval  by  tremendous  plaudits.t 

The  pope  had  excommunicated  Luther ;  thus  it 
was  then  that  Luther  excommunicated  the  pontiff. 
He  had  already  written  to  Leo  this  awful  sentence  : 
"  Is  there  under  the  spreading  firmament  of  heaven 
any  thing  more  fetid,  corrupt,  and  detestable  than 
the  Romish  court  ?  It  infinitely  exceeds  the  Otto- 
man Porte  in  its  heathenish  vices.     Once  it  was  the 

e  Meurer. 

t  Corpus  Eef. ,  D'Aubigne,  Seckendorf,  and  others. 


OF  MAKTIN  LUTHER.  367 

gate  of  heaven,  now  it  is  the  mouth  of  hell,  a  mouth 
which  the  wrath  of  God  keeps  open  so  wide,  that 
on  witnessing  the  unhappy  people  rushing  into  it, 
I  cannot  but  utter  a  warning  cry,  as  in  a  tempest, 
that  some  at  least  may  be  saved  from  the  terrible 
gulf.  This,  Oh  Leo,  is  why  I  inveigh  with  such 
unwearied  energy  against  your  death-dealing  see."* 

The  same  day  tliat  he  burned  the  bull,  he  said 
of  the  decretals,  that  "  they  resemble  a  body  whose 
face  is  as  meek  as  a  young  maiden's,  but  whose 
limbs  are  full  of  violence,  like  those  of  a  lion,  and 
whose  tail  is  filled  with  wiles  like  a  serpent.  Among 
all  the  laws  of  the  23opes,  there  is  not  one  word 
which  teaches  us  who  Jesus  Christ  is."t  On  this 
same  occasion  he  again  said,  "  My  enemies  have 
been  able  by  burning  my  books  to  injure  the  cause 
of  truth  in  the  minds  of  some,  and  to  destroy  souls  ; 
for  this  reason  I  consume  their  books  in  return. 
A  serious  struggle  has  just  commenced.  Hitherto 
I  have  been  playing  with  the  pope ;  now  I  wage  open 
war.  I  began  this  work  in  God's  name ;  it  will  be 
ended  without  me,  and  by  his  might.  If  they  dare 
burn  my  writings,  in  which  more  of  the  gospel  is  to 
be  found,  I  speak  without  boasting,  than  in  all  the 
works  of  the  whole  line  of  popes,  I  can  with  much 
greater  reason  burn  theirs,  in  which  no  good  can  be 
discovered." 

"The  pof)e,"    said   Luther   again,    "has    three 

crowns :  the  first  is  against  God,  for  he  condemns 

o  Letter  to  Leo  X.     L.  Epp.  I.,  501. 
t  L.    0pp.  (W.)  XXII.,  1193,  U9G. 


368  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

religion ;  the  secoud  is  against  the  emperor,  for  he 
condemns  the  secular  authority  ;  the  third  is  against 
society,  for  he  condemns  marriage.  I  have  been 
accused  of  inveighing  too  severely  against  this 
triple-headed  papal  tyrant ;  alas,  would  that  I  could 
speak  against  it  with  a  voice  of  thunder,  and  that 
each  of  ui}^  words  was  a  thunderbolt."*  . 

On  the  day  following  this  unique  protestant 
auto  dafe,  Luther  found  his  lecture-room  even  more 
densely  thronged  than  usual.  Ascending  the  pulpit, 
he  exclaimed  with  astonishing  energy,  "  Be  on  your 
guard  against  the  laws  and  statutes  of  the  Boman 
pontiff.  I  have  burned  his  decretals ;  but  that  is 
mere  child's  play,  a  tj^pical  ceremony.  It  is  time, 
and  more  than  time,  that  the  pope  were  burnt ;  that 
is,  the  see  of  Rome  with  its  thronging  corrupt  doc- 
trines and  abominations. 

"If  you  do  not  contend  with  your  whole  heart 
against  this  impious  Roman  government,  you  who 
n^wknow  the  true  church  cannot  hope  to  be  saved. 
If  you  reject  it,  you  must  expect  to  incur  every  kind 
of  vexation,  nay,  danger  hydra-headed,  and  even  to 
lose  your  lives.  But  it  is  far  better  to  be  exposed, 
for  the  sake  of  truth,  to  such  physical  perils,  than  to 
keep  silence  at  the  risk  of  damnation.  So  long  as 
I  live  I  will  denounce  to  Christendom  the  sore  and 
plague  of  Babylon,  for  fear  that  many  now  with  us 
should  fall  back  like  the  rest  into  this  gaping  pit  of 
iniquitous  Rome."t 

"  We  are  assured  by  the  candid  contemporane- 
o  L.  0pp.  (W.)  XXII.,  1313.       t  L-  0pp.  (L.)  XVII.,  333. 


OF  MAKTIN  LUTHER.  oG9 

ous  student  who  has  handed  down  this  account  to 
us,  that  the  effect  produced  on  the  assembly  by  this 
discourse  was  prodigious.  '  Not  one  among  us,'  he 
relates,  'unless  he  be  a  senseless  log,  doubts  that 
this  is  the  truth,  pure  and  undefiled.  It  is  evident 
to  all  believers,  that  Dr.  Luther  is  a  prophet  of  the 
living  God,  called  in  these  unhaj)py  times  to  feed 
the  wandering  sheep."* 

Luther's  protestation  was  infectious.  Carlstadt 
raised  his  voice  against  the  "  furious  lion  of  Flor- 
ence," the  gentle  pen  of  Melancthon  depicted  the 
Roman  corruption  with  unwonted  sternness,  and 
the  icy  solitude  of  the  far-off  Alps  was  broken  by 
the  resounding  voice  of  that  Zwingie,  afterwards 
so  famous  in  ecclesiastical  history.  Besides  these, 
myriads  of  new  champions  stepped  into  the  arena 
and  swelled  the  chorus  until  Eome  shook  before 
the  earthquake  of  dissent. 

Selfish  trade  cried,  "Peace;"  ignorant  men  mut- 
tered the  credo  without  intermission ;  bigots  cried, 
"  Let  us  convince  this  heretic  by  the  fagot  and  the 
stake;"  owlish  monks  burrowing  in  the  gloom  of  the 
cloister,  breathed  maledictions  upon  this  renegade 
who  came  to  disturb  them  with  his  flashing  torch ; 
timid  men,  like  Erasmus  and  poor  Staupitz,  stood 
shivering  at  the  hubbub  ;  "but  still,"  wrote  Luther 
to  the  somewhat  alienated  vicar-general  of  the 
Augustines,  "  the  tumult  becomes  more  and  more 
tumultuous,  and  I  do  not  think  it  will  ever  be  ap- 
peased, except  at  the  last  day."t 

•  D'Atibign^.  t  ^-  Epp.  I.,  541. 

16* 


370  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

But  tliougli  Lutlier  was  evidently  supported  by 
the  secular  estate,  by  the  nobles  and  the  great  body 
of  the  people,  a  perfect  storm  of  reproaches  smote 
him  from  every  quarter  of  the  ecclesiastical  heavens. 
He  was  constantly  taunted  with  the  weakness  of  his 
cause  within  the  church.  "  But  who  knows,"  wrote 
he  with  jjrophetic  sublimity,  "  if  God  has  not 
chosen  and  called  me  to  perform  this  needed  work, 
and  if  these  babblers  ought  not  to  fear  that  by  de- 
spising me,  they  despise  God  himself  ?  They  say  I 
am  alone ;  no,  •  for  Jehovah  is  with  me.  In  their 
sense,  Moses  was  alone  at  the  departure  from 
Egypt ;  Elijah  was  alolie  in  the  reign  of  king  Ahab; 
Isaiah  was  alone  in  Jerusalem ;  Ezekiel  was  alone 
in  Babylon.  Hear  this,  O  Eome :  God  never 
selected  as  a  prophet  either  the  high-priest,  or 
any  great  personage  ;  but  rather,  he  chose  low  and 
despised  men,  once  even  the  shepherd  Amos.  In 
every  age  the  saints  have  been  compelled  to  rebuke 
kings,  princes,  recreant  priests,  and  Avise  men  at  the 
peril  of  their  lives. 

"  Was  it  not  the  same  under  the  New  Testa- 
ment ?  Ambrose  Avas  alone  in  his  time ;  Jerome 
was  alone  in  his ;  and  Augustine  dwelt  alone  with 
his  brave  heart.  I  do  not  say  that  I  also  am  a 
prophet ;  but  I  do  say  that  they  ought  to  fear  pre- 
cisely because  I  am  alone,  while  on  the  side  of  the 
ojDpressor  are  numbers,  caste,  wealth,  and  mocking 
letters.  Yes,  I  am  alone  ;  but  I  stand  serene,  be- 
cause side  by  side  with  me  is  the  word  of  God;  and 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  371 

with  all  their  boasted  numbers,  this,  the  greatest  of 
powers,  is  not  with  them."-' 

"I  am  termed  'heretic,'  and  'Hussite.'  I  accept 
these  epithets  proudly.  I  have  said  that  some  of 
the  propositions  of  John  Huss  were  Christian. 
This  I  retract ;  not  some,  but  all  of  his  articles  are 
wholly  Christian.  By  condemning  John  Huss  the 
pope  condemned  the  gospel.  I  have  done  five 
times  more  than  that  sainted  martyr,  yet  I  much 
fear  that  I  have  not  done  enough.  Huss  only  said 
that  a  wicked  pope  is  not  supreme  by  divine  ap- 
pointment ;  but  if  Peter  himself  were  now  sitting  at 
Eome,  I  should  deny  that  he  was  pope  by  divine 
appointment. "t 

Thus  closed  this  momentous  phase  of  Luther's 
life ;  thus  were  snaj^ped  hopelessly  and  for  ever  the 
chains  which  had  hitherto  held  him  bound  to  the 
pontifical  throne ;  thus  was  the  Reformation  defi- 
nitely unbound — set  free,  like  a  strong  man,  to  run 
its  course,  conquering  and  to  conquer. 

All  this  was  indeed,  as  Michelet  has  finely  said, 
something  new.  Up  to  this  age  most  of  the  sects, 
schisms,  and  heresies  that  had  arisen  from  time  to 
time,  had  formed  themselves  in  secret — burrowed, 
like  the  early  Christians,  in  the  catacombs  of  uni- 
versal Rome,  only  too  happy  if  their  existence  re- 
mained unknown.  But  here  was  a  simple  monk 
placing  himself  on  an  equalit}'  with  that  awful  sov- 
ereign who  was  supposed  to  hold  the  keys  to  the 
elysian  gates  of  both  worlds,  and  constituting  him- 
o  L.  0pp.  (L.)  XVII.,  338.         f  L.  0pp.  (L.)  XVII.,  339. 


372  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

self  the  jiitlge  of  that  pontiflTs  heretofore  unques- 
tioned actions.  The  chain  of  old  tradition  was  thus 
broken,  its  continuity  was  destroyed,  the  seamless 
robe  was  torn. 

Nor  can  it  be  beHeved  that  Luther  took  this  last 
decisive  step  without  great  pain ;  it  was  tearing 
from  his  heart  the  memory  of  a  past  which  he  had 
been  taught  to  venerate.  He  struggled  long  to 
avoid  separating  himself  from  the  Roman  commun- 
ion. Every  step  he  took  away  fi-om  the  apostolic 
see,  was  taken  from  absolute  necessity.  The  ven- 
omous assaults  of  baffled  and  malicious  priestcraft 
forced  him  to  defend  himself.  Defence  required 
constant  thought,  and  the  most  searching  examina- 
tion of  principles  and  authorities.  Thought  and 
examination  inevitably  meant  emancij)ation  from 
the  childish  and  unreasonable  thraldom  of  the 
Roman  see. 

Still  separation  was  bitter ;  and  though  he  re- 
tained the  Scripture,  it  was,  after  all,  the  Scripture 
otherwise  interpreted  than  it  had  been  for  a  thou- 
sand years.  His  enemies  have  often  said  this ;  but 
none  of  them  have  expressed  it  more  eloquently 
than  he  liimseK.  Thus  he  wrote  on  the  29tli  of 
l^ovember,  1520,  to  the  Augustines  of  Wittemberg : 
"I  feel  more  and  more  every  day  how  difficult  it  is 
to  lay  aside  the  scruples  which  one  has  imbibed  in 
childhood.  Oh  how  much  pain  it  has  caused  me, 
though  I  had  the  Scriptures  on  my  side,  to  justify 
it  to  myself  that  I  should  dare  to  make  a  stand 
alone  against  the  pope,  and  hold  him  forth  as  anti- 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  373 

christ.  What  have  the  tribulations  of  my  heart  not 
been  !  How  many  times  have  I  not  asked  myself 
with  bitterness  that  question  which  was  so  frequent 
on  the  lips  of  the  papists  :  '  Art  thou  alone  icise  ? 
Can  every  one  else  be  mistaken?  How  will  it  be, 
if,  after  all,  it  is  thyself  who  art  wrong,  and  who 
art  involving  in  thy  error  so  many  souls,  who  Avill 
then  be  eternally  damned  ?'  'T  was  so  I  fought  with 
myself  and  with  Satan,  till  Christ,  by  his  own  infal- 
lible word,  fortified  my  heart  against  these  doubts, 
till  it  became  as  a  coast  of  rocks,  defying  the  waves 
which  impotently  dash  upon  it."* 

*  Luther's  Briefe,  II.,  107. 


37^  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTEE  XXX. 

LuTHEE  now  stood  firmly  planted  on  the  table- 
land of  the  Eeformation.  Against  the  ti-adition  of 
the  middle  ages,  against  the  authority  of  the  church, 
he  sought  a  refuge  in  the  Scriptures — anterior  to 
tradition,  superior  to  the  church  itself.  He  wrote 
his  postilla  on  the  evangelists  and  the  epistles.  He 
translated  the  Psalms ;  his  indefatigable  pen  was 
perpetually  employed.  He  found  that  the  young 
emperor  Charles,  who  had  just  been  crowned  at 
Aix-la-Chapelle,  had  allied  himself  too  closely  with 
the  Yatican  to  listen  to  any  appeal  in  favor  of  re- 
form. Abandoning  therefore  the  hope  of  securing 
the  imperial  assistance,  he  addressed  himself  direct- 
ly to  the  patriotism,  the  common-sense,  and  the 
religious  sentiment  of  Germany. 

In  this  work  he  was  powerfully  aided  by  the 
zeal  manifested  by  the  booksellers  and  the  printers 
in  favor  of  the  new  ideas.  "  The  books  of  Luther," 
says  a  hostile  contemporary,  "were  printed  by  the 
typographers  with  minute  care,  often  at  their  own 
expense,  and  vast  numbers  of  copies  were  thrown 
off.  There  was  a  complete  body  of  ex-monks  who, 
returned  to  the  world,  lived  by  vending  the  works 
of  Luther  throughout  Germany.  On  the  other 
hand,  it  was  solely  by  dint  of  money  that  the 
Ivomanists  could  get  their  productions  printed  in 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  375 

the  empire,  and  even  then  they  were  sent  forth 
with  such  a  host  of  errors,  that  they  seenied  the 
work  of  ignorant  barbarians.  If  any  printer  more 
or  less  conscientious  than  the  rest,  gave  himself  any 
trouble  with  a  Roman  writing,  he  was  tormented  to 
death  by  all  his  fellows,  and  by  the  people  in  the 
public  streets,  as  a  papist,  and  as  a  slave  of  the 
priests."* 

Of  course  these  words  of  Cochl?eus  are  to  be 
taken  in  their  full  scope  with  hesitation.  But  even 
if  this  statement  contains  only  a  modicum  of  truth, 
it  still  suffices  to  show  what  a  tremendous  hold  the 
Saxon  doctor  had  upon  the  whole  German  empire. 
Though  Luther  Avas  assailed  from  many  quarters, 
he  answered  all  his  enemies  with  remarkable  fertil- 
ity of  resource,  perspicuity,  and  vigor,  as  Avell  as 
with  great  brilliancy  of  wit  and  poignancy  of  sar- 
casm.    Never  was  it  more  truly  said  of  any  man, 

that  HE  WAS  HIMSELF  A  HOST.f 

It  must  be  said  to  the  credit  of  the  German 
nobles,  that  great  as  was  the  zeal  of  the  towns  for 
the  new  theology,  they  yet  surpassed  the  honest 
burghers  in  their  service  to  the  reformer ;  and  in- 
deed Luther  was  frequently  compelled  to  moderate 
their  Hotspur  enthusiasm.  ■ 

Much  anxiety  was  felt  at  Wittemberg  to  learn 
what  Frederick's  judgment  of  the  papal  bull  and  of 
Luther's  audacious  action  would  be.  The  elector 
had  been  absent  at  the  time  that  the  auto  clafc  of 
the  Eeformation  occurred,  being  at  Aix-la-Chapelle, 

*  CocMeeus.  t).  51.  t  Milner. 


376  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

where  lie  assisted  iu  placing  the  crown  of  Charle- 
magne upon  the  head  of  the  young  Sj^anish  king.* 
On  his  return  to  Weimar,  he  was  much  disquieted 
by  the  startling  aspect  of  the  ecclesiastical  horizon. 
Learning  that  Erasmus  was  sojourning  iu  the  neigh- 
boring city  of  Cologne,  he  sent  that  old  friend  word 
to  meet  him  in  the  privacy  of  his  own  apartments. 
Erasmus,  in  obedience  to  the  summons,  hastened 
to  the  elector's  court  immediately.  Upon  meeting 
the  eminent  scholar,  Frederick  dismissed  all  his 
attendants  save  Spalatin,t  and  then  exclaimed  ab- 
ruptly, "  What  think  you  of  this  Luther  ?"  Eras- 
mus, true  to  his  hesitating  and  timid  character,  en- 
deavored to  avoid  committing  himself,  and  answered 
with  that  witticism  which  he  had  already  uttered 
when  Luther's  theses  on  the  indulgences  first 
reached  him  in  the  Low  Countries :  "  This  monk 
has  committed  two  grave  errors:  he  has  attacked 
the  pope's  tiara,  and  the  monks'  bellies.":!:  But 
though  the  oddity  of  this  quaint  conceit  won  the 
elector  to  smile,  he  was  not  to  be  put  ojff  by  such 
an  answer,  but  fixing  his  keen  eyes  ujDon  the  face  of 
his  illustrious  guest,  he  said  gravely, 

"  I  would  rather  the  earth  should  yawn  and 
swallow  me  up,  than  that  I  should  be  found  favor- 
ing false  doctrines.  But  if  Luther  has  the  truth  on 
his  side,  whatever  danger  I  may  run,  he  shall  not 
reckon  me  among  his  persecutors.  Neither  do  I 
think  myself  qualified  to  judge  in  so  important  a 

*  Seckendoi-f ;  Maimbourg.  f  Erasmus,  0pp. 

t  See  Chap.  XIV.,  p.  171. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  377 

matter;  and  for  that  reason  I  wish  to  kiiow  the 
opinion  of  wise  and  learned  men." 

For  once  Erasmus  felt  emboldened  freely  to 
speak  his  mind,  and  he  rejoined  -with  great  serious- 
ness, "Luther  is  right  in  his  animadversions  on  the 
ecclesiastical  abuses,  for  a  reformation  of  the  church 
is  absolutely  necessary;  more  than  that,  I  esteem 
Luther's  doctrine  to  be  essentially  true;  but  he 
lacks  mildness."" 

After  considerable  more  conversation  of  the 
same  tenor,  Erasmus  withdrew;  and  on  reaching 
his  rooms,  in  a  moment  of  unprecedentedly  frank 
boldness,  he  sat  down  and  wrote  out  a  detailed  ac- 
count of  the  interview  just  concluded,  subjoining 
these  axioms,  among  others,  and  forwarding  the 
whole  manuscript  to  Spalatin : 

"  A  love  of  tyrann}^,  and  a  hatred  of  learning,  is 
the  vile  source  of  all  these  commotions. 

"  Persons  with  the  cleanest  morals,  and  the  pur- 
est faith,  are  the  least  offended  with  Luther. 

"The  barbarity  of  this  bull  against  Luther 
offends  all  good  men,  as  it  is  indeed  unworthy  of  a 
mild  vicar  of  Christ. 

"  Only  two  of  the  universities,!  out  of  so  many, 
have  condemned  Luther,  and  these  have  not  con- 
victed him  of  error,  nor  do  they  themselves  agree 
as  to  their  reasons. 

"  Luther's  proposal  to  defend  himself  publicly, 
or  to  submit  his  cause  to  impartial  judges,  seems 
perfectly  fair  to  reasonable  men. 

*  Spalatin's  MS. ;  Melancthon's  Acct.     f  Cologne  and  Loiivain. 


378  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

"  This  monk  aims  at  neither  rank  nor  profit,  and 
therefore  he  is  the  less  to  be  suspected."'* 

After  he  had  dispatched  tlie  paper  to  Spahitin, 
Erasmus'  timidity  returned,  and  lie  urgently  solic- 
ited that  confidant  of  the  elector  to  restore  it,  alleg- 
ing as  a  reason,  "  Lest  the  papal  legate  should  make 
a  bad  use  of  its  contents."t 

But  whatever  the  after  course  of  the  vacillating 
Hollander  might  be,  it  is  certain  that  what  he  said 
on  this  occasion  miglitil}^  confirmed  the  elector  in 
his  steadfast  friendship  for  Luther  and  his  adher- 
ents— a  friendship  which,  despite  the  open  menaces 
of  both  pope  and  emperor,  the  firm  Saxon  prince 
never  after  allowed  to  be  shaken  or  intimidated.^ 

It  has  been  said  that  anecdotes  disclose  more  of 
the  real  judgment  of  men  than  whole  pages  of  his- 
torical disquisition. 

As  showing  the  wide-spread  fame  of  Luther  at 
this  period,  and  the  general  estimation  in  which  he 
was  held,  take  these  anecdotes. 

Aleander,  who  had  been  sent  by  Leo  into  Ger- 
many as  Eck's  coadjutor,  once  exclaimed,  "  It  is  im- 
possible to  soften  this  Luther  by  money.  He  is  a 
brute  who  will  not  look  either  at  bribes  or  honors ; 
otherwise  he  might  long  since  have  had  many  thou- 
sands paid  him  at  the  bankers  by  the  pope's  order."|| 

Shortly  after  his  interview  with  Frederick  of 
Saxony,  the  legates  of  the  pope  are  said  to  have 

=  Luther's  0pp.,  II.  f  Mibier,  Vol.  U.,  p.  283. 

X  Melancthon's  Aimals,  reflections  on  Frederick  the  Wise. 
II  Selueccer,  in  Seckendorf. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  379 

plied  Erasmus  witli  the  offer  of  a  rich  bishopric,  if 
he  would  write  against  Luther ;  to  which  the  cau- 
tious schohxr  retorted,  "  Luther  is  too  great  a  man 
for  me  ■  to  encounter ;  I  do  not  even  always  under- 
stand him.  However,  to  speak  plainly,  he  is  so  ex- 
traordinary a  man  that  I  learn  more  from  a  single 
page  in  his  books  than  from  all  Ihe  writings  of 
Thomas  Aquinas."* 

Count  Nassau,  governor  of  Flanders,  Brabanfc, 
and  Holland,  exhorted  the  divines  of  the  Hague 
thus  :  "  Go,  and  preach  the  gosj^el  in  simplicity  and 
truth  as  Luther  does,  and  you  will  offend  no  one,  nor 
will  3'ou  suffer  molestation. "f 

The  academicians  of  Louvaiu  complained  to 
Margaret,  the  emperor's  sister,  governante  of  the 
Netherlands,  that  Luther,  by  his  writings,  was  sub- 
verting Christianity.  "  Who  is  this  Luther?"  que- 
ried she.  The  bitter  schoolmen  replied,  "  He  is  an 
ignorant  German  monk."  "  Ls  it  indeed  so?"  said 
she  ;  "  then  do  you,  Avho  are  very  learned  and  very 
numerous,  write  against  this  illiterate  monk,  and 
surely  the  world  will  pay  more  regard  to  many 
scholars  than  to  one  ignoramus.":]: 

Luther,  secure  for  the  present  under  the  power- 
ful protection  of  the  elector,  pursued  the  even  tenor 
of  his  way  at  Wittemberg,  busied  now,  while  the 
pitiless  pelting  of  the  storm  smote  him,  as  before, 
in  the  calm  daj-s  of  the  serene  sunshine,  in  God's 
service. 

*  Pallaviciui,  and  Comment  do  Lutli. 

t  Miluer,  Vol.  II.,  p.  283.  J  Ibid. 


380  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

He  published  at  this  time  a  very  able  pamphlet, 
in  which  he  defended  those  points  of  doctrine  which 
the  papal  bull  had  anathematized.  The  only  fault 
wdiicli  can  now  be  found  with  this  writing  is  its 
acerbity — a  fault  indeed  which  tarnishes  the  beauty 
of  most  of  his  j:)olemical  writings.  This  asperity 
does  undoubtedly  tKrow  a  shade  over  Luther's 
rhetorical  virtues,  and  though  the  rudeness  and  in- 
delicacy of  his  age,  the  savage  bitterness  of  his  ene- 
mies, and  his  own  temperament,  unite  to  apologize 
for  his  acrimony,  it  still  remains  true  that  it  caused 
his  friends,  and  especially  the  electoral  court,  con- 
siderable trouble.  Frederick  and  Sj)alatin  were 
constantly  admonishing  him  to  moderation. 

Still  it  may  be  that  Luther's  philosophy  was  cor- 
rect, and  that  in  a  Avarfare  where  both  sides  had 
drawn  the  sword  and  thrown  away  the  scabbard, 
rose-water  and  silken  phrases  were  out  of  place. 
It  is  certain  that  reformers  in  every  age  have  found 
it  necessary  to  "speak  daggers" — have  made  bul- 
lets of  their  words,  and  carried  the  weapons  of  Zeus 
on  the  tongue. 

Luther,  in  writing  to  Spalatin,  said,  "I  own  that 
I  am  more  vehement  than  I  ought  to  be ;  but  I  have 
to  do  Avith  men  who  blaspheme  evangelical  truth; 
with  human  wolves;  with  those  Avho  condemn  me 
unheard,  without  admonishing,  without  instructing 
me;  and  who  utter  the  most  atrocious  slaiiders 
against  ni}- self  not  only,  but  the  word  of  God. 

"Even  the  most  phlegmatic  spirit,  so  circum- 
stanced, might  well  be  moved  to  speak  thunderbolts ; 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  381 

much  more  I,  wlio  am  cliolei'ic  by  nature,  and  pos- 
sessed of  a  temper  easily  apt  to  exceed  the  bounds 
of  moderation. 

"  I  cannot,  however,  but  be  surprised  to  learn 
whence  the  novel  taste  arose  which  daintily  calls 
every  thing  spoken  against  an  adversary  abusive 
and  acrimonious.  What  think  ye  of  Christ?  Was 
he  a  reviler  when  he  called  the  Jews  an  adulterous 
and  perverse  generation,  a  progeny  of  vipers,  hypo- 
crites,, children  of  the  devil  ? 

"What  think  ye  of  Paul?  was  he  abusive  when 
he  termed  the  enemies  of  the  gospel  dogs  and  se- 
ducers? Paul  who,  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  the 
Acts,  inveighs  against  a  false  prophet  in  this  man- 
ner :  '  Oh,  full  of  subtlety  and  all  malice,  thou  child 
of  the  devil,  thou  enemy  of  all  righteousness  ?'  Why 
does  not  Paul  gently  soothe  the  impostor,  rather 
than  thunder  at  this  rate  ?  I  pray  you,  good  Spa- 
latin,  read  me  this  riddle.  A  mind  conscious  of  truth 
cannot  aliuays  endure  the  obstinate  and  loilfully  hlind 
enemies  of  truth.  I  see  that  all  persons  demand  of 
me  moderation,  and  especially  those  of  my  adversa- 
ries, who  least  exhibit  it.  If  I  ana  too  warm,  I  am 
at  least  open  and  frank ;  in  which  respect  I  excel 
those  who  always  smile,  but  murder."* 

What  Luther  says  of  the  philosophy  of  reform 
is  excellent :  "  I  see  clearly  that  Erasmus  is  very  far 
from  having  an  adequate  notion  of  the  method  of 
reformation.  In  all  his  writings,  his  grand  object 
is  to  avoid  the  cross,  to  give  no  offence,  and  to  live 
*  Liber  I.,  Ep. 


382  OF  MARTIN  LUTHER. 

at  peace.  Hence  lie  thinks  it  proper  on  all  subjects 
to  display  a  sort  of  civility,  good-nature,  and  fine 
breeding;  but  I  say, '  Behemoth '-"  will  pay  no  regard 
to  such  treatment,  nor  ever  be  amended  by  it.  Po- 
pery will  never  be  reformed  one  tittle  by  writings 
that  give  no  offence,  that  make  no  attack,  that  do 
not  hite.  For  the  pontiffs  consider  these  gentle  and 
civil  admonitions  as  a  species  of  servile  cringing. 
They  are  content  to  be  feared ;  and  they  persevere 
in  their  wicked  course  as  though  they  had  a  right 
to  remain  incorrigible. "f 

But  whatever  may  be  thought  of  Luther's  ra- 
tionale of  progress,  it  is  very  certain  that  his  sever- 
ity never  led  him  either  to  injure  his  argumentation, 
nor  even  in  the  most  trying  scenes  to  transgress  the 
fundamental  rules  of  prudence.  Even  his  great 
historical  adversary,  the  Jesuit  Maimbourg,  admits 
that  "  it  cannot  be  denied  that,  notwithstanding  his 
heat  and  impetuosity,  which  are  natural  to  him,  he 
always  considered  and  digested  well  what  he  wrote, 
ever  displaying  in  his  writings  the  man  of  genius 
and  of  erudition,"! 

*  Job  40: 15.  t  Lib.  I.,  Ep. 

X  Maimbourg,  quoted  in  Milner,  Vol.  II.,  p.  286. 


OF  MARTIN   LUTHER.  383 


CHAPTEE   XXXI. 

On  the  festival  of  Cliarlemagne,  January  28, 
1521,  the  emperor  Charles  Y.  opened,  at  Worms, 
that  diet  which  was  destined  to  be  so  memorable 
in  ecclesiastical  history. 

Before  these  diets  all  matters  pertaining  to  the 
empire  properly  came  for  examination  and  final  set- 
tlement. This  one  was  universally  esteemed  to  be 
of  uncommon  im23ortance.  It  was  the  first  over 
which  the  new  emperor  had  presided.  There  were 
a  multitude  of  vexatious  political  questions  to  be 
adjudicated.  Francis  I.,  Charles  V.,  Henry  YIII., 
the  Moslem  Solyman,  a  host  of  illustrious  princes, 
were  weaving  their  webs  of  intrigue  to  secure  the 
preeminence  in  power  and  grandeur,  and  this  diet 
was  to  settle  the  political  policy  of  the  empire. 

But  over  all  these  sources  of  agitation  hovered 
a  greater  one.  It  will  be  remembered  that  the 
archbishop  of  Treves,  who  had  been,  in  1519,  ap- 
pointed by  Leo  X.,  at  the  suggestion  of  Miltitz,  to 
arbitrate  in  this  ecclesiastical  quarrel,  adjourned  the 
consideration  of  the  whole  dispute  to  the  diet  of 
"Worms.  The  Beformation  therefore  was  to  stand 
face  to  face  with  its  accusers,  and  await  the  judg- 
ment of  imperial  Caesar. 

Notwithstanding  the  vast  political  interests  at 
stake,  this  religious  question  took  precedence  of  all 
others  from  the  very  outset. 


384  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

That  pitiless  Rome  wliicli,  inflexible  as  tlie  fabled 
destiny  of  the  ancients,  had  successfully  crushed  for 
ages  past  every  doctor,  king,  or  people  that  had 
ventured  to  oppose  its  iron  progress,  now  thor- 
oughly awake  to  its  peril,  mustered  once  more  its 
fell  forces  to  snuff  out  the  taper  light  which  gleamed 
from  Wittemberg. 

A  letter  written  from  Eome  in  January,  1521, 
and  by  a  Roman  citizen,  reveals  the  pontifical  pro- 
gTamme : 

"  If  I  am  not  mistaken,"  so  runs  the  missive, 
"  the  only  business  in  the  diet  will  be  this  affair  of 
Luther's,  which  gives  us  much  more  trouble  than 
the  Turk  himself.  We  shall  endeavor  to  gain  over 
the  young  emperor  by  threats,  by  prayers,  and  by 
feigned  caresses.  We  shall  strive  to  win  the  Ger- 
mans by  extolUng  the  piety  of  fheir  ancestors,  by 
making  them  rich  presents,  and  by  lavish  prom- 
ises. 

"  If  these  methods  do  not  succeed,  we  shall  de- 
pose the  emperor,  absolve  the  j)eople  from  their 
obedience,  elect  another — and  he  will  be  one  that 
suits  us — in  his  place,  stir  up  civil  war  among  the 
Germans,  as  we  have  just  done  in  Spain,  and  sum- 
mon to  our  aid  the  armies  of  the  kings  of  France, 
England,  and  other  faithful  nations  of  Christendom. 
Probity,  honor,  religion,  Christ — we  shall  make 
light  of  all,  if  only  our  tyranny  be  saved."* 

Charles  was  in  a  quandary  at  the  commence- 
ment. Aleander,  Leo's  legate  at  the  diet,  clamored 
"  Robertson's  Hist,  of  Charles  V.,  Book  III. 


or   MAllTIN  LUTHER.  385 

fiercely  for  Luther's  condemnation  without  a  sum- 
mons before  the  assembled  dignitaries  at  Worms. 

Frederick  of  Saxony,  to  whom  Charles  was  so 
largely  indebted  for  his  crown,  just  as  inflexibly  op- 
posed Luther's  condemnation  unheard.  The  wily 
emperor  desired  to  offend  neither  the  nuncio  nor 
the  elector.  After  much  manoeuvring,  it  was  finally 
decided  that  the  monk  should  be  summoned  to  pre- 
sent himself,  and  show  cause  why  he  should  not  be 
pronounced  heretical. 

Li  submission  to  the  papal  requisition,  the  em- 
peror at  first  declined  to  give  Luther  a  safe-con- 
duct; but  the  indomitable  will  of  Frederick,  which 
stood  like  a  shield  between  his  favorite  theologian 
and  all  harm,  at  length  wrung  this  concession  also 
from  the  reluctant  Coesar.^ 

The  citation  and  safe-conduct  were  dated  March 
G,  1521.  They  were  dispatched  to  AVittemberg  by 
an  imperial  herald,  and  reached  Luther  on  the  21th 
instant.f  Listantly  the  daring  monk  set  about  his 
preparations  for  this  journey  into  the  land  of  the 
Philistines. 

By  the  second  of  April  all  was  in  readiness,  and 
summoning  his  more  intimate  friends  and  colabor- 
ers  to  his  side,  he  took  leave  of  them.  Turning  to 
Melancthon,  he  said  in  an  agitated  voice,  "  My  dear 
brother,  if  I  do  not  return,  and  my  enemies  put  me 
to  death,  continue  to  teach ;  stand  fast  in  the  truth. 
Labor  in  my  stead,  since  I  shall  no  longer  be  able 
to  labor  for  myself.     If  you  survive,  my  death  will 

*  CocLlreus.  t  Melcli,  Adam. 

Luther.  17 


386  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

be  of  little  consequence."  "Then,"  says  D'Aubign^, 
"  committing  his  soul  to  the  hands  of  Him  who  is 
faithful,  Luther  got  into  the  car,  and  quitted  Wit- 
temberg.  The  town  council  had  provided  for  him 
a  modest  conveyance,  covered  with  an  awning,  which 
the  travellers  could  set  up  or  remove  at  their  pleas- 
ure. The  imperial  herald,  wearing  his  robe  of  office 
and  carrying  the  imperial  eagle;  rode  on  horseback 
in  front,  attended  by  his  servant.  Next  came  Lu- 
ther, Schurfi",  Amsdorff,  and  Suaren,  in  the  car.  The 
friends  of  the  gospel  and  the  citizens  of  Wittemberg 
were  deeply  agitated,  and  invoking  God's  aid,  burst 
into  tears.     Thus  Luther  began  his  journey.* 

There  is  no  doubt,  from  his  own  statements,  that 
in  undertaking  this  tour  Luther  firmly  believed  that 
he  was  marching  to  death.  Yet  he  did  not  pause, 
but  accepted  death  serenely,  nay,  joyfully,  if  it  must 
come,  in  behalf  of  his  idea.  There  is  nothing  in 
sacred  or  profane  history  grander  than  the  self-im- 
molation of  this  German  monk. 

On  the  3d  of  April  Luther  arrived  at  Leipsic, 
where  the  cup  of  honor  was  ofiered  him,  according 
to  an  old  custom  of  that  and  many  other  cities ;  on 
the  4th  he  reached  Nuremberg,  where  he  dined  at 
the  table  of  the  burgomaster  Gr^essler,  with  the 
herald.  On  the  5th  he  tarried  over  night  at  Wei- 
mar, where  duke  John,  the  elector's  brother,  sent 
him  the  money  necessary  for  his  journey. 

John  Crotus,  rector,  Hessus,  professor  of  rhet- 
oric, and  Justus  Jonas,  accompanied  by  forty 
*  D'Aiabigne,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  220,  221. 


or  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  387 

horsemen,  met  the  doctor  two  miles  from  Erfurtli. 
He  was  warmly  received  by  liis  good  friend  John 
Lange,  prior  of  his  old  convent.  The  next  day  was 
Easter  Sunday,  and  he  was  persuaded  to  remain 
over  and  preach  in  the  convent  chapel.  The  little 
church  was  crowded.  Every  one  was  anxious  to 
see  and  hear  this  monk,  who  from  his  narrow  cell 
had  been  shaking  the  world  now  for  three  years. 
In  the  midst  of  the  orator's  discourse,  a  portion  of 
the  exterior  walls  gave  way  with  a  loud  crash  ;  terror 
seized  upon  the  audience,  which  rose  to  fly  tumult- 
uously,  and  were  breaking  the  windows  in  order  to 
escape  what  they  regarded  as  imminent  death. 

Luther  remained  firm  and  unmoved  in  his  pul- 
pit ;  he  made  a  sign  which  the  crowd  at  once  obey- 
ed, pausing  in  their  flight  to  collect  his  words.  "My 
brethren,"  said  he,  with  a  reassuring  smile,  "see 
you  not  that  this  is  merely  the  hand  of  the  demon, 
who  desires  to  prevent  you  from  hearing  the  word 
of  God  which  I  announce  to  you  ?  Remain  where 
you  are ;  Christ  is  with  us,  and  for  us."  At  once, 
says  the  narrator,  Daniel  Gretzer,  the  whole  throng 
turned  back,  and  came  still  nearer  the  pulpit  to 
hear  the  divine  word. 

At  Eisenach,  his  dear  Eisenach,  where  he  paused 
for  a  while  with  tears  in  his  eyes  beneath  the  win- 
dow of  the  worthy  Cotta,  Luther  w^as  on  the  point 
of  arresting  his  journey,  the  pains  in  his  stomach 
caused  him  such  suffering.  After  a  w'hile,  however, 
they  diminished  in  their  intensity,  and  he  continued 
on  his  way. 


388  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

At  Frankfort-on-  tlie-Main,  wliicli  he  readied  on 
the  14th  of  April,  he  blessed  two  students  whom 
Wilhelm  Nesse  presented  to  him.  On  the  road  he 
received  from  a  priest  of  Nuremburg  the  portrait  of 
Savonarola,  with  a  letter  exhorting  him  to  persevere 
for  the  glory  of  God.  Luther  affectionately  kissed 
the  picture  :  he  retained  through  life  a  great  venera- 
tion for  Savonarola,  whom  he  regarded  as  a  martyr 
armed  by  God  with  the  sword  of  the  faith.- 

The  procession  advanced  but  slowly.  It  was  from 
Frankfort  that  his  friends  at  home  received  their 
first  news  of  him,  in  a  letter  to  Spalatin  :  "  We  are 
proceeding  on,  my  dear  fi'iend,"  he  says,  "notwith- 
standing the  physical  sufferings  with  wiiich  Satan 
has  afflicted  me,  in  order  to  delay  my  progress  ;  for 
you  must  know  that  all  the  way  from  Weimar  to 
this  city  I  have  experienced  greater  pain  than  I 
ever  before  knew.  But  Christ  lives,  and  I  will  go 
to  Worms  to  brave  the  gates  of  hell  and  the  powers 
of  the  air." 

The  party  sto23ped  at  Oppenheim  to  take  some 
repose.  Luther  might  easily  have  escaped,  for 
Sturm,  the  herald,  left  him  altogether  at  his  own 
disposal.  His  companions  advised  him  to  flee. 
"Flee!"  exclaimed  Luther,  "Oh  no;  I  will  go  on. 
I  will  enter  the  town  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ." 

At   Pfifflingheim,   near  Worms,  Luther   saw  a 

peasant  planting  elms  on  the  way-side :  "  Give  me 

one  of  them,"   said  he,  "and  I  will  place  it  in  the 

earth ;  God  grant  that  my  doctrine  may  flourish  as 

*  Mathesius,  Historien. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  389 

the  branches  of  this  tree  doubtless  will."  The  tree 
did  flourish,  and  beneath  it  have  been  laid  from 
time  to  time  the  bodies  of  enthusiastic  Lutherans, 
whose  dying  breath  has  directed  that  they  should 
be  buried  near  the  reformer's  elm.'^' 

On  the  16th  of  April,  he  came  within  sight  of 
Worms,  and  on  beholding  its  old  bell-towers,  he 
arose  in  his  cliariot  and  began  to  sing  the  hymn  of 
which  it  is  said  he  had  improvised  the  words  and 
the  music  two  days  before  at  Oppenheim — the  Mar- 
seillaise of  the  Eeformation — his 

"EiN  FESTE  BUEG  1ST  UNSER  GOTT." 

Lefi'er,  the  duke  of  Bavaria's  jester,  was  in  wait- 
ing for  the  doctor  at  the  gate  of  Worms,  holding  in 
one  hand  a  cross,  and  in  the  other  a  lighted  taper, 
which  he  had  borrowed  from  the  altar  of  a  neigh- 
boring church.  On  the  approach  of  the  monk,  the 
jester  gravely  preceded  him  into  the  choir,  walking 
backwards,  and  exclaiming  with  sonorous  voice, 
'  Ecce  advcnit  quern  expedamiis  in  tenehrisy  The 
partisans  of  Luther  smiled,  saying  to  one  another, 
"  Children  and  fools  tell  the  truth. "t 

An  eye-witness,  Veit  Van  Warbeck,  gives  this 
account  in  a  letter  to  duke  John,  of  Luther's  en- 
trance into  Worms : 

"  This  day,  IGtli  of  April,  Luther  arrived  at 
Worms,  accompanied  by  a  brother  of  his  order, 
John  Pezrustein,  D'Amsdorff,  and  a  noble  Dane, 

*  The  tree  was  struck  by  liglituing  iu  1811,  and  was  cut  do'mi 
by  the  remorseless  owner.     Michelet. 
I    Mchelet,  pp.  78-80,  note. 


390  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Luaven.  Before  the  car  marclied  the  imperial  her- 
ald in  full  dress,  the  eagle  in  his  hand.  Justus 
Jonas  and  his  servant  came  next  after  the  chariot. 
A  great  number  of  men  had  preceded  the  monk : 
Bernard  Van  Hirschfeldt,  John  Scholte,  Albert  Van 
Lindenau,  and  other  cavaliers  on  horseback.  At 
ten  he  made  his  entrance  into  the  city,  and  thou- 
sands of  the  citizens  accompanied  him  to  his  lodg- 
ings, the  next  house  to  the  '  Swan,'  where  several 
toAvn-councillors  alighted  with  him. 

"  Lutlier  passed  nearly  the  whole  night  at  his 
window,  sometimes  meditating  with  earnestly  upcast 
eyes,  sometimes  breathing  the  air  of  his  hymn  upon 
his  ilute.""^' 

The  next  morning,  Wednesday,  April  17th,  the 
good  city  of  Worms  was  profoundly  agitated. 
Luther's  arrival  was  bruited  about,  and  multitudes 
thronged  to  his  lodgings  to  catch  sight  of  liim.t 
Quite  early  in  the  day  the  hereditary  marshal  of 
the  empire,  Ulrich  of  Poppenheim,  cited  him  to  ap- 
pear, at  four  in  the  afternoon,  before  his  imperial 
majesty  and  the  states  of  the  empire.:]: 

There  were  present  at  the  diet,  besides  the  em- 
peror, six  electors  of  the  empire,  one  archduke,  two 
landgraves,  five  margraves,  twenty-seven  dukes, 
and  a  host  of  inferior  dignitaries,  counts,  archbish- 
ops, bishops,  and  others  ;  in  all,  two  hundred  and 
six  persons.§ 

*  "Warbeck's  letter  to  duke  John.     Archives  of  Saxe  Gotha. 
t  Melch.  Adam.     Vita  Lutheri.  J  Cochlieua. 

§  Luth.  Werke,  IX.,  101. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  391 

Each  of  the  electors,  on  setting  out  for  Worms, 
took  with  him  a  copy  of  Luther's  "Appeal  to  the 
Emperor  and  the  German  Nobility."  Accordingly, 
when  the  question  was  brought  forward  of  the  sub- 
sidies which  Charles  demanded  on  his  going  to 
E-ome  to  be  crowned  by  the  pope,  the  states  for  the 
first  time,  in  granting  him  the  required  troops,  stip- 
ulated that  while  the  nomination  of  the  colonels 
should  remain  in  his  hands,  the  choice  of  the  cap- 
tains should  belong  to  the  respective  squadrons, 
and  that  Germans  only  should  be  chosen.  The 
national  spirit,  excited  by  the  eloquent  manifesto  of 
Luther,  thus  s^^eedily  gave  expression  to  its  hatred 
of  the  foreign  poAver  which  he  had  succeeded  in 
making  odious.  His  Tyrtaean  hymn  as  effectually 
roused  the  nobihty  ;  had  the  emperor  but  given  the 
word,  the  whole  body  would  have  sounded  to  horse, 
and  have  marched  over  the  Alps  to  combat  Home, 
to  the  resounding  chorus  of  Luther's  war-song. "' 

We  are  indebted  to  Luther  himself  for  a  fine 
narrative  of  what  occurred  at  the  diet,  a  narrative 
in  all  essential  points  in  exact  agreement  with  those 
accounts  which  have  been  given  alike  by  friendly 
and  inimical  historians  : 

"  The  herald  summoned  me  on  Tuesday  in  Holy 
Week,  and  brought  me  safe-conducts  from  the  em- 
peror and  from  a  number  of  princes.  On  the  very 
next  day,  Wednesday,  these  safe-conducts  were,  in 
effect,  violated  at  Worms,  where  thus,  before  my 
arrival,  they  condemned  and  burned  my  writings. 
•  i\udiu. 


392  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Intelligence  of  this  readied  me  at  Erfurth.  The 
condemnation  indeed  was  published  in  every  towu, 
so  that  the  herald  himself  frankly  asked  me  whether 
I  still  intended  to  repair  to  Worms. 

"  Though  I  in  truth  was  physically  fearful  and 
trembling,  God  sustained  me,  and  I  replied  firmly, 
'  Yea,  I  will  repair  thither,  though  I  should  find  there 
as  many  devils  as  there  are  tiles  on  the  housetops.' 

"  When  I  arrived  at  Oi')penheim,  near  Worms, 
my  good  friend  Martin  Bucer  met  me  with  a  caval- 
cade, and  tried  to  dissuade  me  from  entering  this 
sepulchre  city.  He  told  me  that  Glaj^ian,  the  em- 
peror's coiifessor,  had  been  to  him,  and  had  entreat- 
ed him  to  warn  me  not  to  go  to  Worms;  for  if  I 
did,  like  my  books,  I  should  be  burned.  I  should 
do  well,  he  added,  to  stop  in  the  neighborhood,  at 
Franz  Yan  Sickingen's,^  who  would  be  very  glad  to 
entertain  me. 

"The  wretches  had  thus  cajoled  my  friends  for 
the  purpose  of  preventing  me  from  making  my 
appearance  within  the  time  prescribed;  they  knew 
that  if  I  delayed  bui  three  dnjs  more,  my  safe-con- 
duct would,  by  its  expiration,  have  been  no  longer 
available  ;*  then  they  would  liav^e  shut  the  city  gates 
in  my  face,  and  without  hearing  what  I  had  to  say, 
the  diet  would  have  arbitrarily  condemned  me. 

*  Charles  duted  his  citation  on  the  Gth  of  March,  and  allowed 
Luther  but  twentj'-one  days,  not  from  his  reception  of  the  safe- 
conduct,  but  from  the  day  he  quitted  Wittemberg,  to  appear  at 
Worms.  It  reached  him  on  the  24th  inst.,  and  he  started  on  the 
2d  of  April ;  the  pass  was  within  three  days  of  expiring  when  Lu- 
ther was  at  Oppenheim. 


or  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  393 

"  I  saw  through  their  stratagem,  and  pressed  on 
in  the  purity  of  my  heart.  On  coming  within 
sight  of  the  city,  I  sent  word  to  Spalatin  that  I  had 
arrived,  and  desired  to  know  where  I  was  to  lodge. 
All  were  astonished  at  hearing  of  my  near  approach ; 
for  it  had  been  generally  imagined  that,  a  victim  to 
the  trick  sought  to  be  played  upon  me,  my  terrors 
would  have  kept  me  away. 

"  Two  nobles,  the  seigneur  Yan  Hirschfeldt  and 
John  Scholte,  came  to  me  by  order  of  the  elector, 
and  took  me  to  the  house  where  they  were  staying. 

"No  prince  came  at  that  time  to  see  me,  but 
several  counts  and  other  nobles  did,  who  gazed  at 
me  fixedly.  These  were  they  who  had  presented 
to  his  majesty  the  four  hundred  articles  against 
ecclesiastical  abuses,  praying  that  they  might  be 
reformed,  and  intimating  that  they  would  take  the 
remedy  into  their  own  haijds,  if  need  were.  They 
had  all  been  freed  by  my  gospel. 

"  The  pope  had  written  to  the  emperor,  express- 
ly desiring  him  not  to  observe  my  safe-conduct. 
The  bishops  urged  his  majesty  to  comply  with  Leo's 
request,  but  the  prince  and  the  states  would  not 
listen  to  it;  for  such  faithlessness  would  have  ex- 
cited a  gi'eat  disturbance.  All  tins  brought  me 
still  more  prominently  into  general  notice,  and  my 
enemies  might  well  have  been  more  afraid  of  me 
than  I  was  of  them.  The  landgrave  of  Hesse,  still 
a  young  man,  desired  to  have  a  conference  with 
me.  Ho  came  to  my  lodgings,  and  after  a  long  in- 
terview, said,  on  going  away,  'Dear  doctor,  if  you 

Luther.  17* 


394  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

be  in  the  riglit,  as  I  think  you  are,  God  will  aid 
you.'* 

"  Ou  my  arrival,  I  had  written  to  Glapian,  the 
emperor's  confessor,  who'  had  sent  me  word  by 
Bucer  that  he  desired  to  see  me  at  Sickingen's 
castle,  when  the  papists  wished  to  entrap  me  into 
voiding  my  safe-conduct,  that  I  w^as  now  at  Worms 
and  ready  to  confer  with  him ;  but  the  wily  con- 
fessor, chagrined  at  the  failure  of  his  stratagem, 
refused  to  come,  saying  that  it  would  be  useless  to 
do  so." 

Then  follows  a  clear  and  succinct  account  of 
what  occurred  at  Worms.  But  since  Luther,  imme- 
diately after  his  dismissal,  wrote  out,  though  in  the 
third  person,  a  still  more  graphic,  minute,  and  pic- 
turesque rejDort  of  the  proceedings,  we  now  quote 
from  this  fuller  description  : 

"The  day  following  his  arrival,  Wednesday, 
April  17th,  at  four  in  the  afternoon,  the  imperial 
chamberlain  and  the  herald  who  had  accompanied 
Luther  from  Wittemberg,  came  to  him  at  his  inn, 
the  '  Court  of  Germany,'  and  conducted  him  to  the 
town-hall  along  by-ways,  in  order  to  avoid  the 
crowds  which  had  assembled  in  the  leading  streets. 
Notwithstanding  this  precaution,  there  were  num- 
bers collected  at  the  gates  of  the  town-hall,  who 
essayed  to  enter  with  him,  but  the  guards  pushed 

*  The  landgrave  came  to  consult  Luther  on  a  curious  point : 
whether  a  young  woman  might  quit  an  elderly  husband  for  a 
younger  spouse.  Luther  smiled  at  this  proposition,  and  said, 
"Dear  master,  I  never  taught  any  thing  of  the  kind,  nor  may  such 
things  be."    Luther's  Werke,  Halle,  XV.,  227. 


or  MARTIN  LUTHER.  395 

the  crowd  resolutely  back.  Ma.ny  persons  liad  as- 
cended to  the  tops  of  the  houses  to  see  Dr.  Martin. 
As  he  proceeded  up  the  hall,  several  noblemen 
successively  addressed  to  him  words  of  encourage- 
ment. '  Be  bold,'  said  they,  '  and  fear  not  those 
who  can  kill  the  body,  but  are  powerless  against 
the  soul.'  '  Monk,'  said  the  famous  Captain  George 
Freundsberg,  putting  his  hand  cheeringly  on  Mar- 
tin's shoulder,  '  take  heed  what  thou  doest :  thou 
art  adventuring  on  a  more  perilous  path  than  any 
of  us  have  ever  trod ;  but  if  thou  art  in  the  right, 
God  will  not  abandon  thee,' 

"Duke  John  of  Weimar  had  previously  supphed 
the  doctor  with  money  for  his  journey.  Luther 
made  his  answers  in  Latin  and  in  German. 

"  Dr.  Eck,"  official  of  the  archbishop  of  Treves, 
opened  the  proceedings : 

"  'Martin  Luther,  his  sacred  and  invincible  maj- 
esty has,  on  the  advice  of  the  states  of  the  empire, 
summoned  you  hither  that  you  may  reply  to  the 
two  questions  I  am  about  to  put  to  you  :  Do  you 
acknowledge  yourself  the  author  of  the  writings 
published  in  your  name,  and  which  are  here  before 
me  ?  and  will  you  consent  to  retract  certain  of  the 
doctrines  therein  inculcated  ?' 

"  '  I  think  the  books  are  mine,'  replied  he.  But 
immediately  Doctor  Jerome  Schurff  added, '  Lot  the 
titles  of  the  works  be  read.'  This  was  done,  when 
he  said,  '  Yes,  they  are  mine.' 

"  Then  he  asked  Luther,  '  "Will  you  retract  the 

<»  Not  the  theologian  of  Ingolstadt,  but  tlio  jurist  Eck.    Audiu. 


396  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

doctrines  tlierein  tauglit?'  He  replied,  turning  to 
Charles,  '  Gracious  emperor,  as  to  tlie  question 
whether  I  will  retract  the  opinions  I  have  given 
forth — a  question  of  faith,  in  Avhich  are  directly  in- 
terested my  own  eternal  salvation  and  the  free 
enunciation  of  the  divine  word,  that  word  which 
knoAvs  no  master,  neither  on  earth  nor  in  heaven, 
and  which  we  are  all  bound  to  obey,  be  we  as 
mighty  as  we  may — it  would  be  rash  and  dangerous 
for  me  to  answer  such  a  question  until  I  had  medi- 
tated thereon  in  silence  and  sober  retreat,  lest  by 
overhaste  I  should  incur  the  anger  of  our  Lord  and 
Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  who  has  said, '  Whosoever  shall 
deny  me  before  men,  him  icill  I  also  deny  before  my 
Father  which  is  in  heaven.''  I  therefore  entreat  your 
majesty  to  grant  me  the  time  necessary  to  enable  me 
to  reply  with  full  knowledge  of  the  x^oint  at  issue, 
and  without  fear  of  blaspheming  the  word  of  God, 
or  endangering  the  salvation  of  my  own  soul.' 

"  This  speech  caused  a  great  stir,  and  after  con- 
siderable whispering  it  was  finally  decided  that 
Martin  should  have  until  the  next  day  at  the  same 
hour  for  meditation. 

"  The  morning  of  the  following  day  Avas  occu- 
pied by  the  subtle  negotiators  of  the  jDapal  court  in 
vain  attempts  to  coax,  inveigle,  and  menace  Luther 
into  a  retraction. 

"At  four  in  the  afternoon  the  monk  again  re- 
paired to  the  council  hall  of  the  diet. 

"  Eck  once  more  took  the  initiative. 

"  '  Martin  Luther,'  he  said,  '  yesterday  you  ac- 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  397 

knowledgecl  the  books  published  in  your  name.  Do 
you  retract  those  writings,  or  not  ?  This  is^  the 
question  we  before  addressed  to  you,  and  which  you 
dechned  answering,  under  the  pretext  that  it  was  a 
question  of  faith,  and  that  you  needed  time  for  re- 
flection ere  you  repHed ;  though  a  theologian  like 
you  must  needs  know  full  well,  that  a  Christian  should 
always  be  ready  to  answer  questions  touching  his 
faith.  Explain  yourself  now.  Will  you  defend  all 
your  writings,  or  disavow  some  of  them  ?' 

"  '  Most  serene  emperor,'  responded  Martin,  '  il- 
lustrious princes,  most  clement  lords,  I  am  again 
before  you,  appearing  at  the  hour  a2">pointed,  and 
supplicating  you  to  listen  to  me  with  benevolence 
and  equity.  If  in  my  statements  or  rej^lies,  I 
should  omit  to  give  you  the  titles  of  honor  due  you, 
offending  thus  against  the  etiquette  of  courts,  you 
will,  I  trust,  pardon  me,  for  I  have  never  been  ac- 
customed to  palaces ;  I  am  but  a  poor  monk,  the 
inmate  of  a  cloister  cell,  who  have  never  preached 
aught  nor  written  aught  but  in  singleness  of  heart, 
for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  honor  of  the  gospel. 

" '  Most  serene  emperor,  and  princes  of  the  em- 
pire :  to  the  two  questions  put  me  3'esterday — 
whether  I  acknowledge  these  books  as  mine,  and 
whetlaer  I  persevere  in  defending  them — I  answer 
now,  as  before,  and  as  I  will  answer  to  the  moment 
of  my  death,  Yes,  the  writings  which  have  been 
published  by  me,  or  which  have  been  issued  in  my 
name,  are  mine  ;  I  acknowledge  them,  I  avow  them, 
and  I  always  will  avow  them,  so  long  as  they  re- 


398  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

main  tlie  same  as  I  sent  tliem  forth,  undisturbed 
by  malice,  knavery,  or  mistaken  prudence. 

"" '  I  acknowledge  further,  that  whatever  I  have 
written  was  first  matured  in  my  mind  hj  earnest 
thought  and  prayerful  meditation. 

"  '  Before  rej^lying  to  the  second  question,  I  en- 
treat your  majesty,  and  the  states  of  the  empire,  to 
consider  that  my  writings  do  not  all  treat  of  the 
same  topics.  Some  of  them  are  preceptive,  des- 
tined for  the  edification  of  the  faithful,  for  the  ad- 
vancement of  piety,  for  the  amelioration  of  man- 
ners ;  yet  pope  Leo's  bull,  while  admitting  the  in- 
nocence and  advantage  of  such  treatises,  with  blind 
indiscrimination  condemns  these  equally  with  all 
the  rest. 

" '  Now,  if  I  were  to  disallow  these,  what,  prac- 
tically, should  I  be  doing?  proscribing  a  mode  of 
instruction  which  every  Christian  sanctions,  and 
thus  putting  myself  in  opposition  to  the  universal 
voice  of  Christendom. 

" '  There  is  another  class  of  writings  in  which  I 
attaclc  the  papacy,  and  the  belief  of  the  papists,  as 
monstrosities,  involving  the  ruin  of  sound  doctrine 
and  of  men's  souls.  None  can  deny,  who  will  listen 
to  the  cries  and  evidences  of  the  conscience  within, 
that  the  pontiff's  decretals  have  thrown  the  Chris- 
tianity of  our  age  into  utter  disorder ;  have  sur- 
prised, imprisoned,  tortured  the  faith  of  the  faith- 
ful ;  have  devoured  as  a  prey  this  noble  Germany, 
because  she  has  protested,  not  in  murmurs,  but 
aloud,  against  lying  tales,  absurd  traditions,  the 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  899 

wicked  inventions  of  mountebank  monks,  peddling 
these  lies  that  they  may  swindle  a  living — a  count- 
less throng  of  impious  heresies,  alien  alike  to  the 
opinions  of  the  fathers,  and  to  the  well-digested 
systems  of  sacred  writ, 

"  'If,  then,  I  were  to  retract  these  writings,  I 
should  lend  additional  strength  and  audacity  to  this 
greedy  Koman  tyranny,  I  should  open  the  flood- 
gates to  the  torrent  of  impiet}^,  making  for  it  a 
breach  by  which  it  would  rush  in  and  overwhelm 
the  Christian  world.  My  recantation  would  only 
serve  to  extend  and  strengthen  the  reign  of  iniquity, 
more  especially  when  it  should  become  known  that 
it  was  solely  by  your  majesty's  order,  and  that  of  as- 
sembled Germany,  that  I  had  made  my  recantation. 
-  "  'And  there  is  still  another  class  of  my  works  : 
I  refer  to  my  polemical  pamphlets.  These  I  have 
thrown  out,  fr-orn  time  to  time,  against  such  of  my 
adversaries  as  advocated  the  continued  reign  of  the 
Homan  see.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  admitting  that 
in  these  I  have  shown  greater  violence  than  befitted 
a  man  of  my  calling.  I  do  not  set  up  for  a  saint. 
I  never  presumed  to  the  honors  of  cajionization, 
nor  do  I  say  that  my  conduct  has  always  been 
above  reproach ;  but  the  dispute  is  not  about  my 
conduct — it  concerns  the  doctrine  of  Christ. 

"  'Still,  though  I  freely  acknowledge  that  in 
these  writings  I  have  been  violent  overmuch  at 
times,  I  cannot  disavow  them.  Why  ?  Because 
Bome  would  make  use  of  the  disavowal  to  extend 
her  empire  to  the  undoing  of  my  Christ. 


400  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

"  'A  man,  and  not  God,  I  would  not  seek  to 
shield  my  books  under  any  other  patronage  than 
that  with  which  Christ  covered  his  tenets.  When 
interrogated  before  the  high-priest  as  to  what  he 
taught,  his  cheek  smitten  by  the  sacrilegious  hand 
of  a  valet,  '  If  I  have  spoken  evil,  bear  witness  of 
the  evil.'  If  the  Lord  Jesus,  who  knew  himself  in- 
capable of  sin,  did  not  disdain  to  respect  the  testi- 
mony which  even  the  vilest  mouths  might  give 
respecting  his  divine  Avords,  ought  not  I,  scum  of 
the  earth  that  I  am,  and  capable  only  of  sin,  to 
solicit  the  candid  examination  of  my  doctrines — as 
I -do  now  ? 

"  'I  therefore  entreat  your  sacred  majesty,  and 
you,  your  illustrious  highnesses,  yea,  and  every  liv- 
ing creature,  to  come  and  depose  against  me ;  and 
then,  with  the  prophets  in  j'our  right  hands,  and 
the  gospel  in  your  left,  convict  me,  if  you  can,  of 
error,  I  stand  here  ready,  nay,  anxious,  if  any  one 
caa  prove  me  to  have  written  falsely,  to  retract  my 
errors,  and  to  throw^  my  books  into  the  fire  with 
my  own  willing  hand. 

"  'Be  assured  that  I  have  well  weighed  the  dan- 
gers, the  pains,  the  strife,  and  the  hatred  that  my 
reform  will  bring  with  it  into  the  world ;  and  I 
frankly  add,  that  I  rejoice  to  see  the  w^ord  of  God 
producing,  as  its  first-fruits,  discord  and  dissension ; 
for  such  is  the  heaven-appointed  destiny  of  the  gos- 
pel, as  our  Lord  has  himself  set  forth :  I  came  not 
to  send  peace,  hut  a  sword — to  set  the  son  against  the 
father. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  401 

"  'Forget  not,  O  princes,  tliat  God  is  not  only 
admirable,  but  terrible  in  all  Lis  counsels ;  and  be- 
ware lest,  if  you  condemn  his  word,  that  same 
despised  word  send  forth  upon  you  a  deluge  of  ills, 
and  the  reign  of  our  young  emperor,  upon  whom, 
next  to  God,  repose  all  our  hopes,  be  speedily  and 
sorely  troubled. 

"  'I  might  here,  in  examples  drawn  from  holy 
writ,  exhibit  to  you  Pharaoh  king  of  Egypt,  and 
the  kings  of  Israel,  rained  from  seeking  to  reign  at 
first  by  peace,  and  by -what  they  termed  wisdom. 
For  God  confounds  the  hj-pocrite  in  his  hypocrisy, 
and  overturns  mountains  ere  they  know  of  their 
fall ;  fearful  is  the  omnipotence  of  God. 

"  'I  seek  not  herein  to  offer  advice  to  3'our  high 
and  mighty  understandings ;  but  I  owed  this  testi- 
mony of  a  loving  heart  to  my  native  Germany.  I 
conclude  with  recommending  myself  to  your  sacred 
majesty,  and  to  your  highnesses,  humbly  entreating 
you  not  to  suffer  my  enemies  to  indulge  their  hatred 
against  me  under  your  august  sanction. 

"  'I  have  said  what  I  had  to  say,' 

"  Thereupon  the  emperor's  orator  hastily  rose, 
and  exclaimed  that  Luther  had  not  directed  himself 
to  the  question  ;  that  what  the  assembly  had  to  do 
was  not  to  listen  to  a  discussion  as  to  whether 
councils  had  decided  right  or  wrong,  but  to  ascer- 
tain from  Luther  whether  he  would  retract ;  this 
was  the  question  to  which  he  had  to  reply — ^yes,  or 
no. 

"  Luther  then  resumed  in  these  words : 


402  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

" '  I  have  already  tried  to  be  explicit,  and  to 
these  questions  I  have  just  responded  three  separate 
times ;  but  since  your  imperial  majesty  and  your 
highnesses  demand  a  simple  answer,  I  will  give  one, 
brief  and  simple,  but  deprived  of  neither  its  teeth 
nor  its  horns. 

" '  Unless  I  am  convicted  of  error  by  the  testi- 
mony of  the  Scripture,  or  by  manifest  evidence — 
for  I  put  no  faith  in  the  mere  authority  of  the  pon- 
tiff or  of  councils,  which  have  often  been  mistaken, 
and  which  have  frequently  contradicted  one  another, 
recognizing,  as  I  do,  no  other  guide  than  the  Bible, 
the  word  of  God — I  cannot,  and  will  not  retract ; 
for  we  must  never  act  contrary  to  our  conscience. 

"  'Such  is  my  confession  of  faith;  expect  none 
other  from  me.    I  have  done ;  God  help  me.    Amen.' 

"  The  states  then  retired  to  deliberate ;  on  their 
return,  the  official  thus  addressed  Luther  : 

"  'Martin,  you  have  assumed  a  tone  which  becomes 
not  a  man  of  your  condition,  and  you  have  not 
answered  the  questions  I  put  to  you.  Doubtless 
3'ou  have  written  some  pieces  which  are  in  no  w^ay 
liable  to  censure ;  and  had  you  retracted  those 
writings  which  inculcate  mischievous  errors,  his 
majesty  in  his  infinite  goodness  would  not  have 
permitted  any  proceedings  to  be  taken  against  those 
which  contain  orthodox  doctrine. 

"  '  You  have  resuscitated  dogmas  which  have  been 
distinctly  condemned  by  the  Council  of  Constance, 
and  you  demand  to  be  convicted  thereupon  out  of 
the  Scriptures.     But  if  every  one  were  at  liberty  to 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  403 

bring  back  into  discussion  points  whicli  for  ages 
liave  been  settled  by  the  church  and  by  councils, 
nothing  woukl  be  fixed,  nothing  would  be  certain, 
doctrine  or  dogma,  and  there  Avould  be  no  unity  of 
belief,  which  men  must  adhere  to  under  penalty  of 
damnation. 

"'You,  for  instance,  who  to-day  respect  the 
authority  of  the  Council  of  Constance,  to-morrow 
ma}^  in  like  manner,  proscribe  all  councils  together, 
and  next  the  fathers  and  the  doctors  ;  and  there 
would  remain  no  authority  whatever,  but  that  indi- 
vidual word  which  you  call  to  witness,  and  which  we 
also  invoke.  His  majesty  therefore  once  more  de- 
mands a  simple  and  precise  answer,  affirmative  or 
negative  :  Will  you  defend  all  your  principles  as  or- 
thodox? or  are  there  any  of  them  which  you  are 
prepared  to  retract  ?' 

"  Then  Luther  besought  the  emj^eror  not  to 
allow  him  to  be  thus  called  on  to  belie  his  con- 
science, which  was  bound  up  with  the  sacred  Avrit- 
ing.  They  had  required  of  him  a  categoiical 
answer,  and  he  had  given  one.  He  could  only 
repeat  wliat  he  had  already  declared :  that  unless 
they  proved  to  him  by  irresistible  arguments  that 
he  was  in  the  wrong,  he  would  not  go  back  a  single 
inch  ;  that  what  the  councils  had  laid  down,  was  to 
him  no  article  of  faith ;  that  councils  had  often 
erred  and  contradicted  one  another,  and  that  con- 
sequently their  testimony  was  not  convincing  ;  and 
that  he  could  not  disown  what  was  written  in  the 
inspired  pages. 


404  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

"The  official  sliarplj  observed,  that  Luther 
could  not  show  that  the  councils  had  erred. 

"Martin  said  he  would  undertake  to  do  so  at 
any  time  that  might  be  assigned  him. 

"  Bj  this  time  the  eyening  drew  on,  it  grew  dark 
apace,  and  the  diet  arose. 

"When  the  Saxon  monk  quitted  theliall  to  re- 
turn to  his  lodgings,  he  was  followed  and  insulted 
by  some  Sj)aniards. 

"  Next  day  the  emperor  sent  for  the  electors  and 
states,  to  discuss  with  them  the  form  of  the  imperial 
ban  against  Luther  and  his  adherents. 

"Meantime  Luther  was  yisited  by  a  great  num- 
ber of  princes,  counts,  barons,  prelates,  and  other 
persons  of  distinction,  both  lay  and  ecclesiastical. 
'  The  doctor's  little  room,'  writes  Spalatin,  '  could 
not  contain  all  the  visitors  who  presented  them- 
selves. I  saw  among  them  duke  William  of  Bruns- 
wick, the  landgrave  Philij)  of  Hesse,  Count  Wilhelm 
of  Henneburg,  the  elector  Frederick,  and  many 
others.' 

"  On  Wednesday  following,  eight  days  after  his 
first  appearance  at  the  diet,  Luther  was  requested 
by  the  archbishop  of  Treves  to  wait  upon  him.  He 
accordingly  did  so,  accompanied  by  the  imperial 
herald,  and  by  the  friends  who  had  followed  him 
from  Saxony  and  Thuriugia. 

"In  the  apartment  of  the  prelate  they  found 
assembled  Joachim  of  Brandenburg,  the  elector 
George,  the  bishops  of  Augsburg  and  Brandenburg, 
Count  George,  grand  master  of  the  Teutonic  order, 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  405 

Jolm  Boeck  of  Strasburg,  and.  the  reformer's  old 
Mend,  Dr.  Peutinger  of  Leij)sic,  Velius,  Chancellor 
of  Baden,  opened,  the  proceedings  in  the  name  of 
those  present,  by  declaring  that  the  j  had  not  invited 
Luther  there  with  any  view  to  polemical  discussion, 
but  out  of  a  pure  feeling  of  charity  and  kindness 
towards  him. 

"  Then  Yehus  commenced  a  long  harangue  on 
the  obedience  due  to  the  church  and  its  decisions? 
to  councils  and  their  decrees.  He  maintained  that 
the  church,  like  any  other  power,  had  its  constitu- 
tions, which  might  be  modified  according  to  the 
requirements  of  the  different  nations  to  which  they 
were  to  be  applied,  the  diversity  of  manners,  of 
climate,  of  epochs ;  and  that  herein  lay  those  ap- 
parent superficial  contradictions  which  Luther  had 
denounced  as  existing  in  the  fundamental  and  in- 
ternal structure  of  the  church. 

"  These  contradictions  in  fact,  so  he  argued, 
only  prove  more  emphatically  the  religious  care 
with  which  the  Koman  see  regulated  its  spiritual 
administration,  and  in  no  degree  violated  the  integ- 
rity of  the  Roman  dogma.  That  dogma  was  yes- 
terday Av'hat  it  is  to-day,  and  what  it  will  continue 
to  be  till  the  end  of  time. 

"He  then  called  Luther's  attention  to  the  dis- 
turbances to  which  his  innovations  were  everjAvhere 
giving  rise.  '  See,'  said  he,  '  your  book,  De  Liber- 
tafe  Christiana;  what  does  that  teach  men?  To 
throw  off  every  species  of  subjection.  It  erects  dis- 
obedience into  a  maxim.     We  no  longer  live  at  a 


406  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

time  when  every  child  of  the  Christian  family  had 
but  one  heart  and  soul;  when  the  precept  was  one, 
like  the  society;  when  the  rule  was  one,  like  the 
precept.  It  became  necessary  to  modify  all  this, 
when  time  itself  had  modified  society ;  but  all  was 
done  without  prejudice  to  the  Roman  idea.' 

" '  I  am  quite  aware,  Martin,'  he  added,  '  that 
many  of  your  writings  breathe  the  sweetest  odor  of 
piety ;  but  we  have  judged  the  general  sjDirit  of  your 
books  as  we  judge  a  tree,  not  by  its  flowers,  but  by 
its  fruits.  The  advice  given  you  by  the  states  of 
the  empire  is  given  in  a  desire  for  peace,  with  all 
good  feeling  towards  yourself. 

"  '  Those  states  were  established  by  God  to  watch 
over  the  security  of  the  people  whose  tranquillity 
your  doctrines-  are  so  powerfully  calculated  to  dis- 
turb. To  resist  them  is  to  resist  God.  Doubtless 
it  is  better  to  obey  God  than  to  obey  men ;  but  do 
you  think  that  we,  any  more  than  yourself,  are  deaf 
to  God's  word,  or  have  not  meditated  thereon  ?' 

"  Luther,  after  expressing  his  thanks  for  the 
peaceful  and  charitable  sentiments  entertained  tow- 
ards him,  proceeded  to  answer  what  Vehus  had 
said  respecting  the  authority  of  councils.  He  main- 
tained that  the  Council  of  Constance  had  erred  in 
condemning  this  proposition  of  John  Huss  :  '  Tan- 
tum  una  est  sancfa,  universalis  ecclesia  quce  est  nume- 
rus  prcedestinatorum.'' 

" '  No  retraction,'  he  said  in  conclusion,  with  an 
animated  voice  ;  '  you  shall  have  my  blood,  my  life, 
rather  than  a  single  word  of  retraction ;  for  it  is 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  407 

better  to  obey  God  than  to  obey  man.  It  is  no 
fault  of  mine  that  this  matter  creates  confusion 
among  you.  I  cannot  prevent  tlie  word  of  God 
from  becoming  a  stumbling-block  to  men.  If  the 
sheep  of  the  Good  Shepherd  were  fed  upon  evangel- 
ical marrow,  faith  would  live,  and  our  spiritual  mas- 
ters would  be  honest  and  trustworthy. 

"'I  know  well  that  we  must  yield  obedience  to 
the  civil  magistrate,  even  though  he  be  not  a  man 
after  God's  own  heart ;  and  I  am  quite  ready  to 
yield  that  obedience  in  all  things  that  do  not  shut 
out  the  sacred  writ.' 

"  Luther  was  then  about  to  take  his  leave,  but 
he  was  told  to  stay,  Avhile  Velms  pressingly  urged 
upon  him  his  previous  arguments,  conjuring  him  to 
submit  his  tenets  to  the  definitive  decision  of  the 
princes  and  states  of  the  empire. 

"  Luther  gently  but  firmly  replied, '  I  would  fain 
have  it  understood  that  I  do  not  decline  the  judg- 
ment of  the  emperor  and  of  the  states ;  but  the 
word  of  God,  on  which  I  rely,  is  to  my  eyes  so  clear 
that  I  cannot  retract  what  I  have  said  and  writ 
until  a  still  more  luminous  authority  is  opposed  to 
it.  St.  Paul  has  said,  '  If  an  angel  from  heaven 
preach  any  other  gospel  to  you,  let  him  be  accurs- 
ed ;'  and  I  say  to  you,  do  not  offer  violence  to  my 
conscience,  which  is  chained  up  with  the  Scripture.' 

"  The  meeting  then  broke  up  ;  but  the  archbish- 
op of  Treves  retpined  Luther,  and  went  with  him 
into  another  apartment.  The  reformer's  two  friends, 
Jerome  Schurff  and  Nicholas,  followed.     John  Eck, 


408  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

tlie  jurist  and  official,  and  Coclilseus,  dean  of  the 
cliurcli  of  the  Holy  Virgin  at  Frankfort,  were  al- 
ready in  the  room.     Eck  addressed  Luther  : 

" '  Martin,'  said  he,  '  there  is  no  one  of  the  her- 
esies which  have  torn  the  bosom  of  the  church 
w^hicli  has  not  derived  its  origin  from  the  various 
interpretations  of  the  Scripture.  The  Bible  itself  is 
the  arsenal  whence  each  innovator  has  drawn  his 
deceptive  arguments.  It  was  with  biblical  texts 
that  Pelagius  and  Arius  maintained  their  doctrines. 
Arius,  for  instance,  found  the  negation  of  the  eter- 
nity of  the  Word,  an  eternity  which  you  admit,  in 
this  verse  of  the  New  Testament :  '  Joseph  knew  not 
his  wife  till  she  had  brought  forth  her  first-born 
son  ;'  and  he  said,  as  you  now  say,  that  this  pas- 
sage enchained  him. 

"  '  When  the  fathers  of  the  Council  of  Constance 
condemned  this  proposition  of  John  Huss,  The 
church  of  Christ  is  only  the  community  of  the  elect, 
they  condemned  an  error ;  for  the  church,  like  a 
good  mother,  embraces  within  her  arms  all  who 
bear  the  name  of  Christian — all  who  are  called  to 
enjoy  the  celestial  beatitude.' 

"  To  this  subtle  and  specious  ecclesiastical  soph- 
istry Luther  replied  by  reproducing  all  the  argu- 
ments of  which  he  had  before  made  use.  Cochl?eus 
then  took  him  by  both  hands,  and  conjured  him  to 
restore  peace  to  the  church.  Luther  Avas  inflexible, 
and  so  they  separated. 

"  Li  the  evening  the  archbishop  of  Treves  sent 
word  to  Luther  that,  by  order  of  the  emperor,  liis 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  409- 

safe-conduct  had  been  extended  two  days,  and  re- 
quested liim  to  wait  upon  liiui  the  next  day,  to  have 
another  conference. 

"  Peutmger  and  the  chancellor  of  Baden  came  to 
see  Luther  next  morning,  and  renewed  the  conver- 
sation of  the  preceding  evening,  using  every  argu- 
ment that  they  could  devise  to  persuade  him  to  sub- 
mit his  writings  to  the  judgment  of  the  emperor. 

" '  Yes,'  said  Luther,  '  I  am  ready  to  submit,  if 
you  wall  come,  Bible  in  hand,  and  controvert  me; 
otherwise  not.  God  has  said  by  the  mouth  of  his 
prophet  king.  Put  not  your  trust  in  i^rlnces,  for  in 
them  there  is  no  salvation  ;  and  by  the  mouth  of  Jer- 
emiah, Cursed  be  he  ivho  putteth  his  trust  in  man.' 

"  They  urged  him  still  more  pressingly.  '  I  will 
submit  every  thing  to  the  judgment  of  man,'  said 
he,  '  except  the  word  of  God.'  Then  they  left  him, 
saying  that  they  would  come  again  in  the  evening, 
when  they  hoped  to  find  him  in  a  more  submissive 
state  of  mind.     They  came,  but  it  was  all  in  vain. 

"  There  was  another  interview  with  the  arch- 
bishop. In  this  last  conference  the  prelate  said, 
'  But,  dear  doctor,  if  jow  will  not  submit  this  matter 
to  the  diet  or  to  a  council,  by  what  means  shall  we 
avert  the  disaster  which  menaces  the  church?  What 
remedies  can  we  apply  ?' 

"  Luther  replied, '  Nothing  can  be  better  said  in 
this  afiair  than  Avas  said,  according  to  St.  Paul,  by 
Gamaliel :  '  If  this  work  be  of  man,  it  will  come  to 
naught.'  The  emperor  and  the  states  may  write  to 
the  pope  thus :  '  If  the  work  of  Luther  is  not  an  inspi- 

Luther.  18 


410  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

ration  from  ou  liigii,  in  three  years  it  will  cease  to 
be  tliouglit  of.' 

"  The  archbishop  persisted  :  '  Suppose,'  said  he, 
'  that  we  made  from  your  books  faithful  extracts  of 
articles  which  we  object  to ;  would  you  submit  these 
to  a  council?' 

" '  Provided  they  were  none  of  those  which 
the  Council  of  Constance  has  already  condemned/ 
quickly  retorted  Luther. 

"  '  But  if  they  were  ?' — 

" '  Then,'  said  Luther,  '  I  would  not  consent  to 
submit  them  to  a  council ;  for  I  am  certain  that  the 
decrees  of  that  council  condemned  the  truth.  I 
would  rather  lose  my  head  than  abandon  the  divine 
word.    In  what  concerns  the  word  of  God  and  the 

FAITH,  EVERY  CHRISTIAN  IS  AS  GOOD  A  JUDGE  AS  THE 
POPE,  THOUGH  SUPPORTED  BY  A  MILLION  COUNCILS,  CAN 

BE  FOR  HIM ;  for  each  man  must  live  and  die  accord- 
ing to  his  belief.  The  word  of  God  does  not  belong 
exclusively  to  Rome;  it  is  not  the  property  of  the 
pope ;  it  is  the  common  heritage  of  humanity,  and 
each  member  of  the  brotherhood  has  a  right  to  ex- 
plain it  for  himself.  Still  the  passage  of  St.  Paul, 
If  any  tiling  is  revealed  to  another  that  sitteth  hy,  let 
the  first  hold  his  j)eace,  proves  clearly  that  the  master 
must  follow  the  disciple,  if  the  latter  understand  the 
Scripture  better  than  he  himself.' 

"  And  thus  ended  the  conference. 

"  Soon  after  this  the  official  sent  for  Luther,  and 
in  the  presence  of  the  arch-chancellor  read  to  him 
the  imperial  sentence.  i 


OF  MAETIN  LUTKEE.  411 

"  '  Luther,'  he  added,  '  since  you  have  not  cho- 
sen to  Hsten  to  the  counsels  of  his  majesty  and  the 
states  of  the  empire,  and  to  confess  your  error,  it  is 
now  for  the  emperor  to  act.  By  his  order  I  give 
you  twenty  days  wdierein  to  return  to  Wittemberg, 
secure  under  the  imperial  safe-conduct,  provided 
that  on  your  way  you  excite  no  disorders  by  preach- 
ing or  other Avise.' 

"  As  the  official  concluded,  Sturm,  the  herald, 
inclined  his  staff  in  token  of  respect. 

"  Luther  bowed  and  said,  '  Be  it  as  the  Lord 
pleases ;  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord.'  He 
then  added  the  expression  of  his  warm  gratitude 
towards  the  emperor  personally,  towards  his  minis- 
ters and  the  states  of  the  empire,  for  whom  he 
affirmed,  with  his  hand  ou  his  heart,  he  was  ready 
to  sacrifice  life,  honor,  reputation,  all  except  God's 
word. 

"  Ou  the  next  day,  April  2Gth,  after  a  collation 
gi»ven  him  by  his  friends,  the  doctor  quitted  Worms."* 

Thus,  says  a  sagacious  writer,  ended  an  affair 
which  seemed,  at  the  beginning,  fraught  with  tre- 
mendous portent  for  Luther  and  his  sacred  cause. 
Beset  by  enemies  who  had  resolved  to  employ  the 
wdiole  subtleties  of  the  Eomftu  see  to  ruin  him,  and 
by  friends  who,  in  their  fears  for  his  safety,  half 
forgot  the  sacredness  of  the  vows  which  were  upon 
him,  it  required  not  less  discretion  than  firmness  to 
save  his  integrity,  and  ward  off  the  manifold  blows 
intended  for  his  destruction. 

*  Luther's  Werkc,  II.,  107,  Halle. 


412  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Had  he  yielded  tlie  principle  that  neither  popes 
nor  princes,  churches  nor  councils,  can  have  any 
authority  to  demand  respect  for  doctrines  not  found 
in  Scripture,  Christendom  might  still  have  had  to 
endure  for  bitter  ages  the  iron  yoke  of  Eoman 
superstition;  had  he,  on  the  other  hand,  i)i'essed 
his  opinions  with  the  air  of  a  zealot,  the  princes  of 
the  empire  would  have  felt  no  sympathy  for  his 
character,  and  the  full  weight  of  the  imperial  wrath 
would  have  fallen  upon  his  uncovered  head. 

Happily  for  him  and  for  Christianity,  he  was 
preserved  from  abandoning  the  calm  and  moderate 
tone  which  so  well  became  a  preacher  of  righteous- 
ness conscious  of  his  integrity,  and  anxious  mainly 
that  all  men  should  boAv  in  willing  homage  to  the 
imperious  truth. 

This  gave  added  weight  and  dignity  to  his  elo- 
quence, and  while  it  awed  the  petulant  spirits  of 
one  portion  of  his  adversaries  into  unwilling  silence, 
it  convinced  the  rest  of  his  moderation,  of  his  sin- 
cerity, fortitude,  elevation  of  thought,  and  thorough 
purity  of  intention.* 

"  The  Eomanist  himself,"  observes  Audin,  "  if  he 
will  for  a  moment  forget  the  sectary  in  the  man, 
cannot  but  contemplate  with  admiration,  in  this 
grand  historical  scene  of  the  diet  of  Worms,  that 
tall,  sombre,  black-robed  monk,  standing  face  to 
face  with,  and  resolutely  bearding  the  throng  of 
princes  and  nobles  in  their  steel  panoply,  their 
gauntleted  hands  grasping  the  massive  handles  of 

*  Stebbing,  Hist.  Eef.,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  91,  92 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  413 

their  swords;  and  Lis  heart  swehs  within  him  as 
he  hears  the  clear,  firm  voice  of  the  obscure  brother 
Martin  defying  the  assembled  powers  of  the  earth. 
"  That  youthful  emperor,  on  whose  head  rests 
the  interests  of  so  large  a  portion  of  Europe,  and 
whom  a  mere  monk  stops  short  at  every  turn  of  the 
conference ;  those  grave  priests  Amsdorff  and  Jus- 
tus pressing,  full  of  love  and  enthusiasm,  close  up 
to  their  master,  ready  to  defend  him  with  their  arms, 
if  need  be,  as  well  as  with  their  learned  voices ;  that 
populace  in  whose  eyes  the  Augustine  was  all-won- 
derful as  the  latest  novelty  of  the  time ;  that  old 
Freundsburg,  who  addressed  the  pilgrim  monk  as 
though  he  were  an  armed  warrior ;  those  warm, 
excitable  southern  faces  full  of  restless  energy,  con- 
trasting strongly  with  the  motionless  features  of 
the  German  spectators :  all  this  forms  a  magnificent 
spectacle,  unsurpassed  in  history,  and  well  worthy 
of  the  attention  of  the  grandest  masters  of  the 
period — of  Raphael  or  of  Angelo  himself.* 

*  Audin,  Histoire  de  M.  Lutli.,  5tli  ed  ,  Paris,  1845. 


414  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Meantime,  while  Lutlier  quitted  Worms  by  one 
gate,  Frederick  of  Saxony,  tlie  elector  palatine,  the 
elector  archbishop  of  Cologne,  and  many  inferior 
friendly  members  of  the  diet  left  the  city  by  another. 

"  Banishment,"  wrote  the  elector  to  his  brother, 
duke  John,  "is  Luther's  only  hope  of  protection. 
If  God  permits  me  to  return  to  you,  I  shall  have 
matters  to  relate  that  are  almost  beyond  credence. 
It  is  not  only  Annas  and  Caiaphas,  but  Pilate  and 
Herod  also,  that  have  combined  against  him." 

B}'  the  Avithdrawal  of  these  friends  of  the  Refor- 
mation the  field  was  left  free ;  only  the  Spaniards, 
the  Italians,  and  the  most  ultraiaontane  of  the  Ger- 
mans remained. 

The  pajDal  legate,  Aleander,  hastened  to  Charles, 
and  laid  before  him  the  outline  of  an  edict  intended 
by  him  as  a  model  of  that  which  the  diet  ought  to 
issue  against  Luther.*  The  emjjeror  assembled 
the  remaining  members  of  the  diet ;  had  the  edict 
of  the  nuncio  read  to  them,  and  it  was  accepted  by 
all  present.t 

"The  next  day,  which  was  a  great  festival,  the 
emperor  went  to  the  cathedral,  attended  by  all  the 
lords  of  his  splendid  retinue. 

"  "When  the  religious  ceremonies  were  over,  and  a 
crowd  of  people  still  thronged  the  sanctuary,  Alean- 

•  Pallaviciui,  Vol.  I.,  120.  f  Ibid. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  415 

der,  robed  in  all  the  insignia  of  his  dignity,  ap- 
proached Charles  Y. ;  he  held  in  his  hand  two  copies 
of  the  edict  against  Luther,  one  in  Latin,  the  other  in 
German,  and  kneehng  before  his  imperial  majesty, 
he  implored  him  to  affix  to  them  his  signature  and 
the  seal  of  his  empire. 

"  It  was  at  the  moment  when  the  sacrifice  had 
been  offered,  when  the  incense  still  filled  the  temple, 
the  melancholy  wail  of  the  sacred  chants  was  still 
reechoing  through  the  the  dim,  mysterious  aisles, 
and  as  it  were  in  the  presence  of  the  Deity,  that 
the  enemy  of  Rome  was  to  be  pronounced  a  heretic, 
and  placed  under  a  ban  both  civil  and  ecclesias- 
tical. 

*'  Charles  assumed  a  gracious  air,  and  taking 
the  pen,  wrote  his  name.  Aleander  withdrew  in  tri- 
umph, and  he  immediately  sent  the  decree  to  the 
printers,  and  then  forwarded  the  still  wet  copies  to 
all  parts  of  Christendom.  This  crowning  act  of  the 
toils  of  Eome  had  cost  the  papacy  no  little  trouble. 
Pallavicini  himself  informs  us  that  this  edict,  al- 
though bearing  date  the  8th  of  May,  was  not  signed 
till  later;  but  it  was  antedated  to  make  it  appear 
that  the  signature  was  affixed  at  a  time  when  all 
the  members  of  the  diet  were  assembled  in  solemn 
state."* 

This  formidable  edict  was  much  more  dreadful 
than  the  mock  thunders  and  Chinese  gongs  of  the 
Vatican.  The  papal  bulls  might  indeed  be  pub- 
lished in  Italy,  but  they  could  not  be  executed  in 

*  D'Aubigue,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  272,  273. 


4:16  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Germany.     But  now  tlie  emperor  and  tlie  pontiff 
joined  hands  to  crush  heres3^ 

"We,  Charles,"  so  ran  the  imperial  decree,  and 
then  followed  his  titles,  "  to  all  electors,  princes,  pre- 
lates, and  others  whom  it  may  concern. 

"  The  Almighty  having  confided  to  us,  for  the 
defence  of  the  most  holy  faith,  more  kingdoms  and 
greater  authority  than  he  has  ever  given  to  our  pre- 
decessors, we  propose  employing  every  means  in 
our  power  to  prevent  our  holy  empire  from  being 
polluted  by  heresy. 

"  The  Augustine  monk,  Martin  Luther,  notwith- 
standing our  exhortation,  has  rushed  like  a  mad- 
man on  our  holy  church,  and  has  attempted  to  de- 
stroy it  by  books  overflowing  with  blasphemy.  He 
has  shamefully  polluted  the  indestructible  law  of 
holy  matrimony;  he  has  endeavored  to  excite  the 
laity  to  dye  their  hands  in  the  blood  of  the  clergy ; 
and  setting  at  naught  all  authority,  has  incessantly 
urged  the  people  to  revolt,  schism,  war,  muixler, 
robbery,  incendiarism,  and  to  the  utter  ruin  of  the 
Christian  faith.  In  a  word,  not  to  mention  his 
other  evil  practices,  this  man,  who  is  in  truth  not  so 
much  a  man  as  Satan  himself  under  the  form  of  a 
man,  and  dressed  in  a  monk's  fi-ock,  has  collected 
into  one  stinking  slough  all  the  vilest  heresies  of 
past  times,  and  has  added  to  them  new  ones  of  his 
own  invention. 

"We  have  therefore  dismissed  from  our  pres- 
ence this  Luther,  whom  all  pious  and  sensible  men 
deem  a  madman,  or  one  possessed  of  the  devil,  and 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  417 

we  enjoin  that,  on  the  expiration  of  his  safe-con- 
duct, immediate  recourse  be  had  to  effectual  meas- 
ures to  check  his  furious  rage. 

"For  this  reason,  under  pain  of  incurring  the 
penalties  due  to  the  crime  of  high  treason,  ^ve  for- 
bid you  to  harbor  the  said  Luther  after  the  appoint- 
ed time  shall  have  expired ;  to  conceal  him,  to  give 
him  food  or  drink,  or  to  furnish  him,  by  word  or 
de.ed,  publicly  or  secretly,  with  any  kind  of  succor 
whatsoever.  We  enjoin  you,  moreover,  to  seize 
him,  or  cause  him  to  be  seized,  wherever  you  may 
find  him ;  to  bring  him  before  us  without  any  de- 
lay, or  to  keep  him  in  safe  custody  until  you  have 
learned  from  us  in  what  manner  you  are  to  act  tow- 
ards him,  and  have  received  the  reward  crae  to 
your  labor  in  so  holy  a  work. 

"  As  for  his  adherents,  you  will  apprehend  them, 
confine  them,  and  confiscate  their  property. 

"  As  for  his  writings,  if  the  best  nutriment  be- 
comes the  detestation  of  all  men  as  soon  as  one 
drop  of  poison  is  mingled  with  it,  how  much  more 
ought  such  books,  which  contain  a  deadly  poison 
for  the  soul,  to  be  not  only  rejected,  but  destroyed  ? 
You  will  therefore  burn  them,  or  utterly  destroy 
them  in  any  other  manner, 

"As  for  the  authors,  poets,  printers,  painters, 
buyers  or  sellers  of  placards,  papers,  or  pictures, 
against  the  pope  or  the  church,  you  will  seize  them, 
body  and  goods,  and  will  deal  with  them  according 
to  your  good  pleasure. 

"And  if  any  person,  whatever  be  his  dignity, 

I.ut„e,..  18* 


418  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

should  dare  to  act  in  contradiction  to  the  decree  of 
our  imperial  majesty,  we  order  him  to  be  placed 
under  the  ban  of  the  empire. 

"Let  every  man  behave  according  to  this  de- 
cree." 

On  the  publication  of  this  ponderous  edict, 
Kome  shouted  in  triumph.  "  You  have  got  to  the 
end  of  the  tragedy,"  wrote  the  Spaniard  Alfonso 
Valderas  to  his  friend  Piero  D'Anghiera,  at  this 
juncture ;  "  the  end  according  to  some,  but  in  my 
opinion  only  the  beginning,  for  the  Germans  are  ex- 
ceedingly indignant  against  the  holy  see." 

The  Spaniard  was  right ;  the  very  nest  day  after 
the  burning  of  Luther's  works,  according  to  the 
imperial  decree,  in  the  public  square  at  Worms,  the 
booksellers  of  thai  city  went  about  offering  a  num- 
ber of  other  copies  for  sale,  from  door  to  door,  and 
even  had  the  audacity  to  call -with  them  at  the  im- 
perial residence.* 

Meantime  how  sped  this  feeble  monk,  against 
whom  earth  and  heaven  seemed  leagued  ?  How 
did  he  escape  this  imminent  and  deadly  imperial 
thunderbolt? 

The  elector  Frederick,  deeply  anxious  for  Lu- 
ther's personal  safety,  foreseeing  his  danger,  and 
determined  to  shield  him  from  it,  had,  on  quitting 
"Wittemberg,  arranged  with  Spalatin,  Frederick  of 
Thun,  Feilitsch,  and  other  adherents  of  the  Saxon 
doctor,  that,  unknown  to  himself,  he  should  be  seized 
bj  their  friendly,  but  masked  hands,  and  borne 
**  Audin. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  419 

away  to  some  secure  retreat,  until  the  first  fury  of 
tire  persecuting  storm  should  pass  by.*  The  secret 
of  this  stratagem  was  kept  so  close  that  it  was  not 
until  long  afterwards  that  it  leaked  out.f 

Let  us  now  return  to  Luther. 

The  Augustine  performed  the  first  stages  of  his 
journey  without  the  occurrence  of  any  incident  of 
special  significance.  On  his  arrival  at  Freyburg  he 
wrote  two  letters,  one  to  the  emperor,  the  other  to 
the  states  assembled  at  Worms.  In  the  first  he  ex- 
pressed his  regret  at  having  found  himself  obliged 
to  disobey  his  majesty,  but  he  reminded  Charles 
that  God  and  his  word  were  above  principalities 
and  powers.  He  also  lamented  that  he  had  not 
been  able  to  obtain  a  discussion  of  the  evidences  he 
had  collected  from  Scripture,  adding  that  he  was 
ready  to  present  himself  before  any  other  assembly 
that  might  be  convened  for  that  purpose,  and  to 
submit  himself  in  all  things  without-  exception,  pro- 
vided the  word  of  God  received  no  detriment. 

The  letter  to  the  states  was  written  in  a  similar 
spirit.  I 

Having  confided  these  two  letters  to  Sturm,  the 
imperial  herald,  who  had  been  deputed  to  accom- 
pany him  for  his  protection,  Luther  dismissed  that 
officer,  and  entered  the  friendly  states  of  the  prince 
of  Hesse  unguarded.§ 

This  fugitive  monk,  anathematized  alike  by  the 
Koman  see  and  by  the  empire,  was  nevertheless  the 

*  Spalatin's  Annals.  f  Ibid. 

X  Luther,  Werke,  IX.,  107.  §  Spalatin's  Annals. 


420  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

recipient  of  tlie  most  courteous  attentions  as  he 
hurried  across  the  country  towards  his  asjdum  at 
Wittemberg.  Still,  some  superstitious  persons  were 
doubtless  filled  with  horror  at  the  thought  of  this 
incarnate  devil,  covered  with  a  monk's  hood,  whom 
the  emperor  had  pointed  out  to  the  revengeful  sus- 
picion of  the  nations. 

At  Hirschfeldt,  Luther  received  quite  an  ovation. 
"You  would  hardly  believe  the  civility  with  which 
I  was  received  at  Hirschfeldt,"  wrote  he  to  Spalatin, 
on  the  14th  of  May  :  "  the  abbot  Crato  Milius  sent 
forward  his  chancellor  and  his  treasurer  a  full  mile 
on  the  road  to  meet  us,  and  he  himself  came  to 
receive  us  at  a  short  distance  from  his  castle,  at- 
tended by  a  troop  of 'cavaliers,  who  escorted  us  into 
the  town.  The  good  abbot  entertained  us  splen- 
didly in  his  monastery,  and  assigned  me  his  own 
bed  to  sleep  in.  On  the  fifth  day  they  absolutely 
forced  me  to  preach,  though  I  represented  to  them 
the  risk  they  ran  of  losing  their  privileges,  should 
the  imperialist  party  choose  to  treat  this  as  a  viola- 
tion of  my  undertaking  not  to  preach  my  doctrines 
on  the  way.  But  then  I  added,  that  I  never  pledged 
myself  to  chain  up  the  word  of  God — nor  will  I. 

"  I  preached  also  at  Eisenach,  in  the  presence  of 
the  minister,  who  was  in  a  great  fright,  and  of  a 
notary  and  two  witnesses,  who  formally  protested 
against  what  I  was  doing,  but  excused  themselves 
privately  to  me,  on  the  ground  that  otherwise  they 
dreaded  the  resentment  of  their  tyrants.  So,  very 
likely,  you  will  hear  it  said  at  Worms  that  I  twice 


or  MAKTIN  LUTHER.  421 

broke  my  ^^ledged  faith  :  to  which  I  say  again,  that 
to  chain  up  God's  word  is  a  condition  into  which  it 
is  not  within  my  power  to  enter. 

"  Our  friends  met  us  on  foot  a  little  out  of  Eise- 
nach, and  accompanied  us  into  the  town  in  the  even- 
ing. Our  companions  had  set  out  in  the  morning 
with  Jerome. 

"As  to  myself,  I  was  proceeding  to  rejoin  my 
relatives  through  the  dark  edge  of  the  Thuringian 
forest,  and  was  on  my  way  to  Walterhausen,  when, 
near  the  fortress  of  Altenstein,  I  was  suddenly  taken 
prisoner.  Amsdorflf  doubtless  knew  of  the  arrange- 
ment to  seize  me,  but  he  is  not  aware  of  the  place 
to  which  I  was  carried. 

"  My  brother,  who  saw  the  horsemen  coming  up,* 
jumped  out  of  the  carriage,  and  without  saying  a 
word,  ran  off. 

"  As  for  me,  I  was  bewildered,  and  the  horsemen 
speedily  stripped  off  my  robe,  put  upon  me  a  mili- 
tary garb,  desiring  me  to  let  my  beard  grow,  and 
meanwhile  they  supplied  me  with  a  false  one.  You 
would  scarce  recognize  me,  my  dear  Spalatin ;  in- 
deed I  hardly  knew  myself  I  was  then  whirled  on 
through  the  darkness,  and  at  midnight,  ascending 
a  steep  mountain,  we  plunged  into  this  isolated  cas- 
tle ;  and  here  I  am,  living  in  Ubertafe  Christiana, 
free  from  the  chains  of  tyrants. "i" 

*  Their  names  were  Haus  Van  Borletscli,  and  Burcard  Van 
Hurd.     Audin. 

f  Letter  to  Spalatin,  Werke,  IX. 


422  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTEE  XXXIII. 

It  was  to  the  lofty  and  isolated  fortress  of 
Wartbiirg,  where  in  former  times  the  old  landgraves 
were  accustomed  to  shelter  themselves,  that  Luther, 
by  the  prudent  forethought  of  the  Saxon  elector, 
had  been  borne  to  his  pleasant  and  honorable  cap- 
tivity. 

Here,  while  the  Roman  see  raged  furiously  at 
the  audacious  innovator's  escape,  he  himself  looked 
down  securely  from  the  platform  of  his  dungeon- 
keep  ;  finding  in  this  quiet  retreat  full  leisure  to  re- 
sume his  flute,  to  sing  his  German  psalms,  to  trans- 
late his  Bible,  and  to  thunder  forth  against  the 
pope  and  the  devil.* 

On  his  disappearance,  a  crj^  of  grief  and  rage 
resounded  through  Germany.  The  pope  and  the 
emperor  .were  openly  and  menacingly  accused  of 
compassing  his  death.  Ulric  Yau  Hiltten  and  Her- 
mann Busch  filled  the  country  with  their  plaintive 
war-songs,  and  an  ominous  growl  of  discontent  fore- 
tokened the  first  heavings  of  an  insurrection. t 

But  the  secreted  monk  speedily  acquainted  his 
adherents  with  the  fact  of  his  continued  existence, 
though  concealing  the  precise  place  of  his  confine- 
ment, and  the  menacing  wail  of  Germany  quickly 
subsided  into  an  undemonstrative  smile  of  satisfac- 
tion. 

o  Michelet,  p.  99.  f  Lindner,  Let.  Luth.,  p.  220. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  423 

The  first  weeks  of  liis  confinement  passed  rather 
pleasantly  than  otherwise.  The  overtasked  frame 
and  mind  of  the  reformer  really  needed  the  repose. 
"  A  strange  prisoner  I  am,"  he  exclaimed ;  "  captive 
with  and  against  my  will."*  But  ere  long  his  im- 
petuous and  active  intellect  began  to  fret  and  repine 
at  this  forced  seclusion.  He  was  revisited  by  those 
trials  and  temptations  which  had  so  terribly  racked 
him  at  the  outset  of  his  career  in  the  cloister  cell  at 
Erfurth.  At  the  same  time  his  sufi'erings  were  still 
further  increased  by  a  return  of  those  severe  cramps 
in  the  stomach  which  seem  to  have  been  chronic 
with  him.t 

But  though  his  co'nfinement  was  rigorous — 
though  he  was  obliged  to  conceal  his  personality, 
to  change  his  name,  assuming  that  of  "  the  knight 
George,"  and  though  he  was  not  permitted  to  wan- 
der beyond  the  castle  walls,  every  thing  that  de- 
voted kindness  could  suggest  was  done  by  the  cliat- 
elain  to  render  his  guest  comfortable.  He  even 
at  times  sent  secretly  for  some  of  Luther's  acquaint- 
ances who  resided  near  at  hand,  and  these  were  ad- 
mitted to  Wartburg  undei?  cover  of  the  night,  and 
rising  early  in  the  morning,  assembled  round  the 
monk  in  the  fortress  chapel,  returning  to  their 
homes  at  nightfall. | 

But  despite  all  that  could  be  done  to  cheer  him, 
Luther  gave  way  to  great  depression.  Thus  in 
writing  to  Melancthon,  July  13,  1521,  he  says,  "  I 

*  L.  Epp.  XIII. ,  12tli  May.  t  Tischreden. 

J  Michelet,  p.  99,  note. 


424  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

see  mj^self  insensible  and  hardened,  a  slave  to  slotli, 
rarely,  alas,  praying,  unable  even  to  send  forth  a 
groan  for  the  church.  Let  me  confess  the  horrible 
truth  :  my  flesh,  my  flesh,  my  untamed  flesh  burns 
with  a  devouring  flame  ;  with  a  flame  which  should 
only  animate  my  spirit  to  good.  Idleness,  slug- 
gishness, the  lusts  of  the  flesh,  close  about  me,  as- 
sail me  closely  and  fiercely.  Is  it  because  thou 
hast  ceased  to  pray  for  me  to  God,  that  he  has  thus 
turned  his  face  from  me?  It  were  well  for  thee  to 
take  my  place — thou  so  much  more  richly  endowed 
by  God,  so  much  more  pleasing  in  his  sight. 

"  Here  have  I  been  eight  daj'S  without  praying, 
without  studying ;  whether  from  temptations  of  the 
flesh,  or  from  some  other  vexations  that  are  upon 
me,  I  know  not.  If  things  do  not  take  a  better  turn 
with  me,  I  will  return  publicl}^  to  Erfurth,  and  thou 
wilt  see  me  there;  for  I  must  fain  consult  the  phy- 
sicians or  the  surgeons,  whichever  of  them  it  be  I 
need." 

In  June  he  wrote  again  :  "  The  priests  and  monks 
who  played  their  gambols  while  I  was  at  liberty, 
have  become  so  afraid  since  my  captivity  that  they 
are  beginning  to  modify  the  preposterous  extrava- 
gances they  were  wont  to  send  forth  against  me. 
They  .find  they  can  no  longer  resist  the  pressure  of 
the  increasing  crowd  of  questioners,  and  they  know 
not  in  what  direction  to  make  their  escape.  See 
you  not  herein  the  arm  of  the  Mighty  One  of  Jacob  ? 
all  that  he  is  doing  for  us  while  we  hold  our  peace, 
while  we  stand  aside,  while  we  pray  to  him?     Is 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  425 

not  this  a  fulfilment  of  tlie  saying  of  Moses,  The 
Lord  sJiaUfghf  for  you,  and  you  sJtcdl  iiold  your  peace  ? 
One  of  the  fellows  at  Home  has  written  to  a  Majence 
hoojjie,  '  Luther  is  quashed  :  just  as  we  wished;  but 
the  peo23le  are  so  excited  about  him,  that  I  fear  we 
shall  run  a  chance  of  losing  our  lives  if  we  do  not 
go  in  search  of  him,  candle  in  hand,  and  bring  him 
back.' " 

A  little  later  he  whites  thus  :  "  When  I  consider 
this  horrible  season  of  anger,  I  only  ask  to  find  in 
my  eyes  floods  of  tears  to  lament  the  desolation  of 
men's  souls  occasioned  by  this  kingdom  of  perdi- 
tion. The  monster  has  its  seat  in  Home,  in  the 
very  midst  of  the  church,  and  proclaims  itself  God. 
Pontiffs  adulate  it,  the  sophists  offer  it  incense,  and 
there  is  nothing  which  the  hypocrites  refuse  to  do 
for  it.  Meanwhile  hell's  heart  is  gladdened,  and 
its  immense  jaw^s  are  opening  wide.  Satan's  sport 
is  in  the  perdition  of  souls.  As  to  me,  I  sit  still  all 
day  long,  doing  nothing." 

But  though  Luther  thus  speaks  of  himself  as 
sitting  idle,  in  reality  he  displayed  the  most  extra- 
ordinary literary  activity — fi'om  his  rocky  Patmos 
fairly  inundating  Germany  with  his  writings.* 

On  his  arrival  at  Wartburg,  he  had  found  but 
few  books ;  he  speedily  however  collected  from 
Wittemberg  and  elsewhere  the  requisite  materials 
for  the  continuation  of  his  studies.  He  then  threw 
off  in  rapid  succession  a  host  of  polemical  pam- 
phlets. The  Sorbonne  at  Paris  had  recently  con- 
*  Maimbourg,  Sect.  15. 


426  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

demned  his  works.  Melanctlion  wrote  a  Latin  Apol- 
ogy against  the  Blockhead  Theologians  of  Paris.  This 
Luther  now  translated  into  German,  adding  a  caus- 
tic commentary  of  his  own.  He  also  devoted  a  large 
portion  of  his  time  to  his  translation  of  the  New 
Testament,  sadly  missiiig  Melancthon's  assistance. 

A  little  volume  against  a  work  of  Catharinus 
on  Antichrist,  a  commentary  on  the  sixty-seventh 
Psalm,  another  on  the  Canticle  of  May,  and  a  Con- 
solation to  the  Church  at  Wittemberg,  were  pub- 
lished at  this  time.  All  these  writings  were  in  Ger- 
man. "  I  was  born,"  says  Luther,  "  for  the  good  of 
my  dear  Germans,  and  I  will  never  cease  to  serve 
them."* 

It  w^as  while  engaged  in  translating  the  Holy 
Scriptures  that  Luther  had  that  conflict  with  Satan 
of  Avliich  such  frequent  mention  has  been  made.t 

"  Solitary,  in  ill  health,  and  saddened  by  the 
exertions  of  his  enemies  and  the  extravagances  of 
some  of  his  followers,  seeing  his  life  wearing  away 
in  the  gloom  of  that  old  castle,  he  had  occasionally 
to  endure  terrible  struggles.  In  those  times  men 
inclined  to  carry  into  the  visible  world  the  conflicts 
that  the  soul  sustains  with  its  spiritual  enemies. 

"Luther's  lively  imagination  easily  embodied 
the  emotions  of  his  heart,  and  the  superstitions  of 
the  middle  ages  had  still,  and  continued  to  have 
through  his  life,  some  hold  upon  his  mind ;  so  that 

*  Tisclireden. 

t  See  all  the  biographies  of  Luther,  especially  the  Memoirs  of 
Michelet,  who  devotes  thirty  odd  pages  to  this  subject. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  427 

we  miglit  say  that  there  was  yet  a  remnant  of  pop- 
ery in  him. 

"  Satan  was  not,  in  Lutlier's  view,  an  invisible, 
but  real  being.  He  thought  that  he  appeared  to 
men  as  he  appeared  to  Christ.  Although  the  authen- 
ticity of  many  of  the  stories  on  this  subject  con^ 
tained  in  the  '  Table  Talk '  and  elsewhere  is  more 
than  doubtful,  history  must  still  record  this  failing 
in  the  reformer. 

"  Never  was  he  more  assailed  by  these  gloomy, 
ghostl}'  ideas  than  in  the  solitude  of  the  Wartburg. 
Jn  the  days  of  his  strength  he  had  braved  the  devil 
in  Worms,  but  now  his  powers  were  somewhat  bro- 
ken. He  was  throAvn  aside ;  Satan  was  victorious 
in  his  turn  ;  and  in  the  anguish  of  his  soul,  Luther 
imagined  he  saw  his  giant  form  towering  before 
him,  lifting  his  finger  in  threatening  attitude,  exult- 
ing with  a  bitter  and  hellish  sneer,  and  gnashing 
his  teeth  in  fearful  rage. 

"  One  day  especially  he  fancied  that  he  beheld 
Satan,  filled  with  horror  at  his  work,  tormenting 
him,  and  prowling  about  him  like  a  lion  about  to 
seize  his  prey. 

"  Luther,  alarmed  and  incensed,  snatched  up  his 
inkstand  and  flung  it  at  the  head  of  his  enemy. 
The  figure  disappeared  with  a  dismal  howl,  and  the 
missile  dashed  in  pieces  against  the  w^all. 

"  The  keeper  of  the  Wartburg  still  carefully 
directs  the  attention  of  travellers  to  the  spot  made 
upon  the  wall  by  Lutlier's  inkstand.'"' 

*  D'Aiibigne,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  31,  32.  . 


428  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

The  arclibisliop  of  Mayence,  iinconyinced  hj 
Lntlier's  arguments,  ventured  to  resume  the  sale 
of  indulgences  within  his  diocese ;  aud  just  before 
this  time  a  priest  at  Halle  had  ascended  the  pulpit, 
by  the  prelate's  direction,  to  urge  the  purchase  of 
pardons  by  the  public.  On  this  occasion  however, 
the  money  raised  was  to  be  devoted,  not  to  the  erec- 
tion of  St.  Peter's,  but  to  the  extermination  of  the 
hordes  of  Mussulmans  who  were  menacing  Hun- 
gary.- 

Immediately  upon  hearing  of  this,  Luther  wrote 
Spalatin,  "  I  shall  enjoy  no  rest  until  I  have  at- 
tacked the  idol  of  Mentz,  with  its  brothel  at  Halle  ;"t 
and  he  instantly  commenced  the  composition  of  his 
German  pamphlet  Against  the  Neiv  Idol  of  Halle. 

On  the  reception  of  this  news,  the  electoral  court 
was  thrown  into  a  panic.  The  universal  comment 
was,  "  Luther  can  only  be  saved  by  being  forgotten  ; 
yet  now  he  proposes  to  war  upon  the  first  ecclesias- 
tical prince  in  the  empire."  "Tell  him,"  said  Fred- 
erick to  Spalatin,  "that  I  will  not  suffer  him  to 
write  against  the  archbishop  of  Mentz,  and  thus 
redisturb  the  public  tranquillity.''^ 

Spalatin  accordingly  wrote  Luther  to  that  effect ; 
whereupon  the  indignant  monk  indited  this  epistle 
to  Frederick's  confidant : 

"  The  elector  will  not  suffer !  and  I  too  will  not 
suffer  the  elector  not  to  permit  me  to  write  ;  rather 
would  I  destroy  myself,  you,  the  elector,  nay,  the 

«  Andiu.  t  L.  Epp.  11. ,  59  ;  7th  October,  1521, 

X  Ibid.,  91. 


or  MARTIN  LUTHER.  429 

universe,  than  hold  a  disgraceful  and  impious  peace. 
If  I  have  resisted  the  pope,  who  is  the  creator  of 
your  cardinal,  shall  I  cringe  before  his  creature? 
It  is  very  fine,  forsooth,  to  hear  you  say  that  we 
must  not  disturb  the  public  tranquillity,  while  you 
allow  the  everlasting  peace  of  God  to  be  disturbed, 
Spalatin,  it  shall  not  be  so  ;  prince,  it  shall  not  be 
so.  I  send  you  a  book  which  I  had  already  pre- 
pared when  I  received  your  letter.  Forward  it  to 
Melancthon."" 

Spalatin  is  said  to  have  trembled  when  lie  re- 
ceived this  missive  ;  but  the  behests  of  this  strange 
monk,  who  spoke  as  imperiously  to  princes  as  to 
peasants,  were  not  to  be  resisted,  and  the  manu- 
script was  forwarded  to  Melancthon,  who  was  re- 
quested to  erase  the  more  violent  passages  before 
giving  it  to  the  printer.t 

Meantime  Luther  sent  the  following  singular 
letter  to  the  offending  archbishoj)  at  Mentz  : 

"  Your  electoral  highness  has  again  set  up  at 
Halle  the  idol  that  swallows  the  money  and  the 
souls  of  poor  Christians.  You  think  perhaps  that 
I  am  disabled,  and  that  the  emperor  will  easily 
stifle  the  cries  of  a  poor  monk.  But  know  that  I 
shall  discharge  the  duties  that  Christian  charity 
imposes  upon  me,  without  fearing  the  gates  of  hell, 
and  much  less  the  pope,  his  bishops,  and  car- 
dinals. 

"  For  this  reason  my  huniblc  prayer  is,  that  your 
electoral  highness  will  remember  the  beginning  of 

*  L.  Epp.  I.,  94.  t  rijifl- 


430  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

this  affair — liow  a  tiny  sj)ark  kindled  a  terrible  con- 
flagration. All  the  world  was  at  that  time  in  a  state 
of  security.  This  poor  begging  friar,  thought  the}^, 
who,  unaided,  would  attack  the  pope,  is  too  weak  for 
such  a  crusade.  But  God  interposed,  and  he  caused 
the  pope  more  labor  and  anxiety  than  he  had  ever 
felt  since  he  first  took  his  seat  in  the  temple  of  God 
to  tyrannize  over  the  church.  This  same  God  still 
lives ;  let  no  one  doubt  it.  He  will  know  how  to 
withstand  a  cardinal  of  Mentz,  even  were  he  sup- 
ported by  four  emperors  ;  for  He  is  placed  above  all 
tilings,  to  hew  down  the  lofty  cedars,  and  to  abase 
the  haughty  Pharaohs. 

"  For  this  reason  I  inform  your  highness  by 
letter,  that  if  the  idol  is  not  thrown  down,  I  must, 
in  obedience  to  God's  teachings,  publicly  attack 
your  highness,  as  I  have  attacked  the  pope  himself. 
Let  your  highness  conduct  yourself  in  accordance 
with  this  advice  ;  I  shall  wait  a  fortnight  for  a  fa- 
vorable reply. 

"  Given  in  my  wilderness,  the  Sunday  after  St. 
Catherine's  day,  15th  November,  1521. 

"From  your  electoral  highness'  obedient  and 
devoted  servant, 

"MAETIN  LUTHER.  "» 

The  weak  archbishop  is  said  to  have  been  greatly 
frightened  on  the  reception  of  this  terrible  and 
mysterious  epistle.  He  immediately  sat  down  and 
wrote  this  excommunicated  monk— he,  a  prince  of 
the  empire,  and  the  leading  primate  of  the  church 
«  L.  Epp.  II.,  113. 


or  MAKTIN  LUTHER.  431 

in  Germany — this  submissive  letter,  fully  as  singu- 
lar as  the  letter  which  called  it  forth  : 

"  My  dear  doctor,  I  have  received  jonr  missive, 
and  have  taken  it  in  good  part.  But  I  think  the 
motive  that  has  led  you  to  write  mc  such  an  epistle 
has  long  ceased  to  exist.  I  desire,  with  God's  help, 
to  conduct  myself  as  a  pious  bishop  and  a  Chris- 
tian prince,  and  I  confess  my  need  of  the  gface  of 
God. 

"I  do  not  deny  that  I  am  a  sinner,  liable  to  sin 
and  error,  sinning  and  erring  daily.  I  am  well 
assured  that  without  God's  grace  I  am  worthless 
and  offensive  mire,  even  as  other  men,  if  not  more 
so. 

"  In  replying  to  your  letter,  I  would  not  con- 
ceal this  gracious  disposition,  for  I  am  more  than 
desirous  of  showing  you  all  kindness  and  favor,  for 
the  love  of  Christ.  I  know  how  to  receive  a  Chris- 
tian and  fraternal  rebuke. 

"  With  my  own  hand, 

"ALBERT."* 

This  remarkable  letter  was  dispatched  to  Luther, 
and  reached  him  at  Wartburg  within  the  specified 
fortnight. 

I'abricius  Capito,  the  archbishop's  chaplain,  sent 
with  his  master's  letter  one  of  his  own^  in  which  he 
censured  the  harshness  of  the  monk's  language. 
He  remarked  that  it  was  necessary  to  observe  some 
reserve  in  our  intercourse  with  great  people,  to 
make  allowances  for  them,  sometimes  to  shut  our 
■^s  L.  Ep]).  IL,  115. 


432  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

eyes  to  their  defects  ;  to  all  wliicli  Luther  responded 
thus :  "  The  Christian  faith  is  an  open,  a  public,  a 
sincere  faith ;  it  sees  things  as  they  really  are,  it 
proclaims  the  truth.  My  opinion  is,  that  we  ought 
to  unmask  all  hypocrites  and  ill-doers,  that  we 
ought  to  spare  none  of  them,  to  excuse  none  of 
them,  to  shut  our  eyes  to  none  of  their  proceedings, 
so  that  truth  may  remain  free  and  manifest,  as  on 
a  broad,  open  field.  '  Cursed  he  he  that  doeth  the 
Lord's  ivork  deceitfully,'  says  Jeremiah.  It  is  one 
thing,  my  dear  Fabricius,  to  praise  or  extenuate 
vice,  and  another  to  set  about  its  cure  with  kind- 
ness and  gentleness.  Before  all  things,  it  is  essen- 
tial to  declare  aloud  and  unequivocall}^  what  is  just 
and  what  is  unjust ;  afterwards,  when  our  hearer  is 
thoroughly  imbued  with  that  lesson,  we  should 
soothe  him  and  assist  him,  despite  of,  nay,  all  'the 
more  for,  any  weaknesses  whereunto  he  may  fall 
back.  'Brethren,  coinfort  ye  the  feeble-minded,'  says 
St.  Paul. 

"  I  trust  that  no  one  will  ever  have  occasion  to 
charge  me  with  any  want  of  charity  or  patience 
towards  the  feeble-minded.  If  your  cardinal  had 
written  his  letter  in  true  sincerity  of  heart,  O  God, 
with  what  jo}',  with  wdiat  humility  would  I  fall  at 
his  feet.  Oh  how  unAvorthy  should  I  deem  myself 
to  kiss  the  dust  before  him ;  for  I  myself,  what  am 
I  but  dust  and  filth  ?  Let  him  truly  accept  the 
word  of  God,  and  we  will  all  of  us  obey  him  as  faith- 
ful, submissive  servants. 

"With  respect  to  those  who  persecute  the  word, 


OF  MAETIN  LUTPIER.  433 

the  liigliest  charity  consists  precisely  in  resisting 
their  sacrilegious  fury  in  every  possible  wa}^ 

"  Do  you  imagine  that  Luther  is  a  man  who  will 
consent  to  shut  his  eyes,  provided  he  is  tickled  with 
a  few  cajoling  speeches?  My  dear  Fabricius,  I 
really  ought,  in  justice  to  myself,  to  address  you  in 
far  harsher  language  :  my  love  is  ready  to  die  for 
you  ;  but  touch  mj  faith,  and  you  touch  the  apple  of 
my  eje.  Jest  at,  or  honor  the  love,  as  you  see  fit; 
but  the  faith,  the  word,  this  you  should  adore,  this 
you  should  look  upon  as  the  holy  of  holies.  I  pray 
you  earnestly  to  do  so.  Ask  any  thing  of  our  love, 
but  fear,  dread  oiir  faith. 

"  I  do  not  reply  to  the  cardinal  himself,  because 
I  know  not  how  to  write  him  without  either  sanc- 
tioning or  censuring  his  sincerity  or  his  hypocrisy. 
Do  you  therefore  communicate  to  him  Luther's  feel- 
ings on  this  matter. 

"From  my  desert,  St.  Anthony's  day,  17tli  Jan- 
uary, 1522."-" 

But  Luther  consented  to  delay  the  publication 
of  his  treatise ;  and  as  the  archbishop  of  Mentz 
shortly  after  suppressed  the  sale  of  indulgences,  it 
was  not  printed  till  long  afterwards.f 

Luther  next  attacked  the  confessional,  the  Gib- 
raltar of  Romanism,  whence  the  priests  endeavored 
to  rivet  the  chains  still  more  tightly  upon  their 
dupes.  In  his  exjMse  of  this  abomination,  he  said, 
"  They  bring  forward  these  words  of  St.  James : 
'Confess  your  faults  one  to  another.'  Singular  con- 
«  Luther's  Wevke,  IX.,  129.  t  Corpus  Refor. 

T,utl.er.  19 


434  THE   LIFE  AND  TIMES 

fessor !  His  name  is  one  another.  Whence  it  would 
follow  tliat  the  confessors  should  also  confess  to 
their  penitents  ;  that  each  Christian  should  be,  in  his 
turn,  pope,  bishop,  priest ;  and  that  the  pope  him- 
self should  confess  to  all."* 

Luther  next  approached  another  momentous 
question,  that  of  monkish  celibacy.  The  Germans 
are  fond  of  social  life  and  domestic  joys;  hence,  of 
all  the  papal  ordinances,  compulsory  celibacy  was 
that  which  produced  the  saddest  consequences. 
This  law,  which  at  first  had  been  imposed  on  the 
heads  of  the  clergy,  had  prevented  the  ecclesiastical 
fiefs  from  becoming  hereditary.  But  when  extended 
by  Gregory  YII.  to  the  inferior  clergy,  it  was  at- 
tended with  the  most  deplorable  results.  Many 
priests  evaded  the  obligations  imposed  upon  them 
by  this  arbitrary  and  unnatural  decree,  by  the  most 
scandalous  disorders,  which  in  time  drew  general 
contempt  and  hatred  upon  the  whole  order ;  while 
those  who  submitted  to  Hildebrande's  law  were  in- 
wardly exasperated  against  the  church,  because, 
while  conferring  on  its  superior  dignitaries  so  much 
power,  wealth,  and  earthly  enjoyment,  it  bound  its 
humbler  ministers,  who  were  its  most  indisj)ensable 
supporters,  to  a  self-denial  so  contrary  to  the  gos- 
pel.t 

There  was  accordingly  at  this  period  of  the  Ref- 
ormation a  very  general  disposition  manifested, 
both  by  the  clergy  and  the  monks,  to  break  over 
the  law  enjoining  celibacy,  and  to  marrj'. 

*  L.  0pp.,  XVII.,  701.  t  D'Aubigue,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  16. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  435 

Liitlier  thought  the  priests  ought  to  marrj. 
Accordingly,  when  he  lieard  that  Bernard  Fekl- 
Ivirchen,  who  had  been  the  first  under  his  direction 
to  assail  the  errors  of  Eome,  had  married,  he  ex- 
claimed, "  I  admire  this  new  bridegroom,  priest  of 
Romberg,  who  fears  nothing,  but  hastens  forward 
in  the  midst  of  uproar."  But  touching  that  kindred 
question,  the  marriage  of  monks,  of  men  who  had 
deliberately  given  uj)  the  pleasures  of  this  life,  and 
accepted  all  the  rigors  of  asceticism,  he  was  doubt- 
ful, nay,  at  first  he  was  firmly  persuaded  that  it 
might  not  be. 

Therefore,  on  learning  that  the  question  was 
much  agitated  throughout  Germany,  and  on  re- 
ceiving the  theses  which  Carlstadt  had  published 
against  monachism,  and  some  masterly  propositions 
by  Melancthon  on  the  same  side,  Luther  was  sorely 
troubled.  "  Gracious  God,"  exclaimed  he,  "  our 
Wittembergers  then  would  give  wives  even  to  the 
monks !" 

In  the  various  letters  which  he  wrote  at  this 
time,  he  showed  how  anxious  and  undecided  he 
was.  The  fact  is,  that  Luther  in  this  matter  did  not 
lead,  he  followed  public  opinion.  "  Ah,"  said  he  in- 
dignantly on  another  occasion,  "  they  will  not  force 
me  to  take  a  wife."*  But  his  rare  good  sense  finally 
emancipated  him  from  this  monkish  superstition, 
and  as  we  shall  shortly  see,  the  circumstances  under 
which  ho  married  placed  his  conduct  an  arrow's 
flight  beyond  that  of  the  most  radical  of  his  com- 
'--  L.  Epp.,  II.,  40. 


436  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

peers.  Indeed  Melanctlion's  logic  convinced  Mm 
ere  lie  quitted  Wartburg  of  the  essential  justice  of 
tlie  abolition  of  celibacy,  as  applied  not  only  to 
priests,  but  also  to  monks. 

But  "wliile  Luther  was  thus  engaged  in  the  in- 
vestigation and  settlement  of  doctrines,  the  Refor- 
mation abruptly  left  the  domain  of  speculation,  and 
went  into  the  field  of  action. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  437 


CHAPTEE   XXXIY. 

While  Luther  was  quietly  immured  in  the  dun- 
geon of  Wartburg,  events  of  the  greatest  signifi- 
cance were  occurring  at  Wittemberg.  Though  in- 
formation reached  him  only  at  intervals,  what  he 
heard  from  time  to  time  still  further  augmented  his 
impatient  interest  in  the  progress  of  reform. 

The  church  still  retained  the  form  it  had  as- 
sumed under  the  plastic  power  of  the  Eoman  domi- 
nation. Doctrines  had  been  tried  by  the  test  of 
Scripture,  and  the  belief  demanded  of  mankind  had 
been  reduced,  or  rather  exalted  to  the  plain  rule  of 
God's  own  word;  but  that  cumbrous  ceremonial 
which  had  been  invented  to  display  under  visible 
forms  the  empty  dreams  of  a  fraudulent  enthusiasm, 
presented  a  barrier  which  it  required  a  fresh  exer- 
cise of  devout  courage  to  assail.  The  minds  and 
ideas  of  men  are  sooner  convicted  of  error  than  their 
hearts  and  affections ;  consequently  their  faith  as  to 
particular  tenets  of  their  creed,  may  be  purified 
with  greater  ease  than  their  taste  for  the  external 
rites  of  a  worship  deeply  planted  and  hallowed  by 
age.* 

Up  to  the  year  1521,  it  is  certain  that  no  essen- 
tial alteration  had  been  made  in  the  Eoman  ritual. 
But  now  this  giddy  scafi'olding  which  defaced  tho 
*  StebbiiiK,  Hist.  lief. 


438  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

outer  walls  of  the  Christian  church  was  about  to 
be  taken  down. 

The  Augustine  monastery  at  Wittemberg  inau- 
gurated this  reform.  They  abated  the  rigors  of  the 
cloister  asceticism,  and  abolished  private  masses. 
They  affirmed  that,  since  they  no  longer  believed  in 
the  efficacy  of  private  masses  for  the  taking  away 
of  sins,  they  could  not  continue  to  celebrate  them 
without  sin;  that  Jesus  had  instituted  the  eucha- 
rist  with  his  apostles,  who,  in  their  time,  had  never 
celebrated  the  sacrament  except  by  way  of  com- 
munion; and  lastly,  that  as  our  Lord  had  at  the 
beginning  given  both  the  bread  and  the  wine  to  his 
disciples,  they  also  were  bound  in  the  most  solemn 
manner  to  administer  both  whenever  they  cele- 
brated mass.* 

These  strange  doctrines  echoing  from  the  Wit- 
temberg cloister,  caused  an  intense  commotion  in  the 
good  old  town,  and  in  the  whole  vicinage.  So  great 
indeed  was  the  disturbance  at  the  monastery,  that 
the  university  interfered,  and  invoked  Frederick's 
mediation.  That  prince  accordingly  appointed  a 
committee  of  the  Wittemberg  professors,  Amsdorff, 
Justus  Jonas,  Carlstadt,  Melancthon,  and  one  or 
two  others,  to  inquire  into  the  reason  why  these 
Augustines  had  departed  from  the  usual  discipline 
of  the  church. 

The  monks  returned  their  answer  in  writing, 
giving  substantially  the  reasons  just  recited.  The 
deputies  who  had  come  to  convict,  returned  them- 

*  Stebbing,  Hist.  Ref.,  Vol.  I.,  p.  98. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  439 

selves  convicted.  They  then  apprized  the  elector 
of  their  sudden  conversion,  and  even  out-Heroded 
Herod  by  going  beyond  the  monks  in  their  advo- 
cacy of  this  startling  innovation.  "  To  none  of  the 
corruptions  of  the  dark  ages,"  they  said,  "was 
gi'eater  rej)robation  due  than  to  the  alterations 
which  the  Roman  see  had  arbitrarily  introduced 
into  the  service  of  the  last  supper.  The  mass  was 
in  fact  nothing  more  than  the  communion  of  the 
body  and  blood  of  Christ;  and  it  is  as  absurd  to 
celebrate  the  mass  for  the  salvation  of  those  not 
present,  as  it  would  be  to  baptize  one  person  for 
another." 

In  attributing  the  origin  of  the  most  supersti- 
tious practices  of  the  mediaeval  church  to  the  notion 
that  the  mass  was  a  sacrifice,  the  Wittemberg  theo- 
logians manifested  equal  knowledge  and  acuteness. 
This  instant  capitulation  of  a  militant  deputation 
to  the  irresistible  logic  of  those  whom  they  were 
sent  to  reduce  to  obedience,  is  a  beautiful  and  strik- 
ing instance  of  the  omnipotent  influence  of  Chris- 
tianit}',  and  proves  very  conclusively  that  the  fa- 
thers of  the  Reformation  were  more  intent  upon  the 
discovery  of  truth  than  upon  the  establishment  of  a 
sect. 

The  cautious  elector  was  astonished  upon  the 
reception  of  this  epistle,  but  his  strength  of  mind 
enabled  him  to  appreciate  the  cogency  of  argu- 
ment with  which  the  deputies  supported  the  new 
principle.  Still  he  thought  that  in  a  matter  which 
so  vitally  concerned  the  church  at  large,  and  which 


440  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

struck  so  severe  a  blow  at  these  peculant  corrupters 
of  tlie  institution  of  the  eucharist,  who  had  founded 
their  sujierstitions  and  extortions  upon  the  Roman 
system,  it  behooved  him  to  proceed  with  modera- 
tion. Therefore,  in  his  answer  to  the  deputies,  he 
counselled  caution,  and  requested  to  be  informed  of 
the  time  when  the  changes  were  to  be  made.* 

But  the  prudent  counsels  of  Frederick  were  dis- 
regarded. Carlstadt,  though  possessing  neither  the 
vigor  nor  the  elevated  genius  of  Luther,  was  in- 
spired by  a  zeal  as  resolute,  if  not  as  wise  as  that 
of  his  great  master.  This  fervor  of  disposition,  un- 
modified by  the  force  which  Luther  derived  from 
his  wonderful  strength  of  understanding,  urged  him 
to  take  a  step  which  could  only  have  been  rendered 
safe  by  the  concurrent  voices  of  the  whole  body  of 
the  reformers. 

It  was  part  of  Carlstadt's  duty 'to  perform  ser- 
vice in  the  castle  church  on  Christmas  day,  and  he 
seized  the  occasion  to  make  numerous  and  essential 
alterations  in  the  office  of  the  eucharist.  He  not 
only  read  the  service  in  German,  histead  of  the  pre- 
scribed Latin  forms,  but  he  left  out  the  regular 
ordinance  of  the  confessional,  most  of  the  old  usages 
and  ceremonies,  and  distributed  the  bread  and  wine 
freely  to  all  present,  saying,  "  Whosoever  feels  the 
biirdeu  of  his  sins,  and  hungers  and  thirsts  for  the 
grace  of  God,  let  him  come  and  receive  the  body 
and  blood  of  our  Lord."t 

An  explosion  instantly  followed.  Frederick  had 
*  Stebbing,  Hist.  Ref.  Vol.  I.,  p.  99.      t  CoriD.  Eef.  I.,  512. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  441 

recourse  to  negotiation  to  moderate  the  fiery  zeal 
of  Carlstadt,  and  Luther  Avas  apprized  of  the  criti- 
cal state  of  affairs. 

Luthur  rejoiced  at  the  abolition  of  the  mass, 
and  immediately  wrote  a  tract  addressed  to  the 
Wittemberg  Augustines,  in  which  he  restated  and 
enlarged  upon  the  arguments  which  he  had  previ- 
ously advanced  upon  the  same  subject  in  his  book 
on  the  Bahylonish  Captivity.  But  while  he  was  re- 
joicing at  the  increase  of  resolution  and  freedom  so 
manifest  in  these  events,  he  trembled  lest  the  im- 
prudence of  his  adherents  should  lessen  the  dignity 
they  enjoyed  as  true  and  sanctified  iipholders  of  the 
gospel.  He  therefore  united  with  Frederick  in  urg- 
ing his  friends  not  to  proceed  too  hastily,  lest  the 
weak  and  wavering  should  be  offended."" 

Meantime,  towards  the  close  of  November,  his 
anxiety  so  completely  mastered  his  prudence,  that 
he  quitted  his  asylum,  and  repaired  in  his  military 
incognito  to  Wittemberg,  to  enjoy  a  brief  chat  with 
his  discii^les,  and  to  still,  if  possible,  the  rising  tem- 
pest. He  was  absent  from  Wartburg  but  a  few 
days,  and  he  carefully  concealed  his  tour  from  the 
elector.  "  I  concealed  from  Frederick,"  he  wrote  to 
Spalatin,  "  both  my  journey  and  my  return ;  I  need 
not  tell  you  why;  3'ou  understand  my  motive. "t 

But  the  alarming  character  which  events  at 
Wittemberg  were  assuming  was  only  checked,  not 
stopped,  by  Ijuther's  brief  visit.  Under  the  fiery 
appeals  of  certain  religious  fanatics,  the  Augustine 

*  Liitlicr's Weike,  IX.         f  L.  Ej^p.,  II.,  21.    LelUr to  Spiiliitin. 
19*  • 


442  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

monastery  was  completely  broken  up;  the  monks, 
stripping  off  their  gowns,  returned  into  the  world. 

"  There  resided  in  Wittemberg  a  few  men  who, 
agitated  by  the  great  events  that  were  then  stirring 
all  Christendom,  aspired  to  direct  revelations  from 
the  Deity,  instead  of  meekly  desiring  sanctification 
of  heart,  and  who  asserted  that  they  were  called  to 
complete  the  Reformation  so  feebly  sketched  out 
by  Luther. 

" '  What  is  the  use,'  said  they,  '  of  clinging  so 
closely  to  the  Bible?  The  Bible!  the  Bible!  always 
the  Bible  I  Can  the  Bible  preach  to  us?  Is  it  suf- 
ficient for  our  instruction?  If  God  had  designed  to 
instruct  us  by  a  book,  would  he  not  have  sent  us  a 
Bible  from  heaven  ?  It  is  by  the  Spirit  alone  that 
we  can  be  enlightened.  God  himself  speaks  to  us. 
God  himself  reveals  to  us  what  we  should  do  and 
what  we  should  preach.' 

"  Thus  did  these  fanatics,  like  the  adherents  of 
Rome,  attack  the  fundamental  principle  upon  which 
the  Reformation  was  founded,  the  all-sufficiency  of 
the  word  of  God."^" 

The  new  prophets  then  ran  foaming  through  the 
streets,  crying,  "  Woe !  Woe !"  declaring  that  in- 
fant baptism  was  valueless ;  that  all  priests,  as  well 
those  who  had  quitted  the  cloister  as  those  who 
continued  in  it,  should  be  put  to  death ;  that  the 
earth  must  be  purified  by  blood ;  and  that  the  end 
of  all  things  drew  near.  • 

Not  contenting  themselves  with  words,  the  fanat- 

*  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  46,  47. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  44? 

ics  riislied  to  the  clmrclies,  spoiled  them  of  their 
rehcs,  and  broke  the  images.'^' 

The  university  and  the  civil  authorities,  which 
had  already,  in  January,  1522,  regulated  the  Lord's 
supper  according  to  the  new  ritual, i"  set  themselves 
earnestly  to  check  these  disturbances,  and  threw 
the  ringleaders  into  prison  ;|  but  still  the  agitation 
continued  ;  indeed  it  received  a  fresh  impetus  by 
the  open  adhesion  of  Carlstadt,  who,  to  the  lasting 
blemish  of  his  fame,  placed  himself  at  the  head  of 
this  rabble,  and  did  his  utmost  to  break  up  the  uni- 
versity. The  first  leader  of  the  fanatics  had  been 
an  ignorant  tailor  named  Claus  Storch.§  But  on  his 
incarceration,  Carlstadt,  followed  by  Zwilling  and 
a  number  of  persons  of  the  lowest  class,  entered  the 
church  of  All-Saints  during  divine  service,  and  com- 
menced to  destroy  the  statues,  pictures,  and  images ; 
vociferating,  "  Thou  slialt  not  make  unto  thee  any 
graven  image,  nor  any  likeness  of  any  thing  that  is 
in  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath,  or 
that  is  in  the  Avaters  under  the  earth."  At  the  enun- 
ciation of  this  text,  which  seemed  to  dazzle  their 
understandings,  the  magistrates  of  Wittemberg 
stood  passive,  while  Carlstadt  extended  his  work  of 
destruction  to  the  other  churches.il 

Not  cjontent  with  these  violent  proceedings, 
Carlstadt  returned  to  the  university,  and  inveighed 
against  the  vanity  of  learning.  He  maintained  that 
knowledge  was  a  snare  and  a  delusion,  urged  the 

*  Seckendoif,  p.  480.  t  Corp.  Kef.,  I.,  5i5. 

t  Mel.  Corp.  Kef.,  I.,  513.      §  Corp.  Kef.,  I.,  514.      ||  Audin. 


444  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

students  to  quit  the  university,  and  himself  prac- 
tised his  doctrine  by  visiting  the  haunts  of  the  most 
Ignorant  men,  where  repeating  the  text,  The  truth  is 
hidden  from  icise  men,  and  revealed  unto  hahes,  he 
solicited  their  opinion  on  the  most  obscure  biblical 
passages.* 

Instantly  a  unanimous  cry  arose  for  Luther.  It 
was  thought  that  he  alone  could  avert  ruin  and  dis- 
grace, t 

The  reformer,  sad  and  anxious,  at  first  contented 
himself  with  writing  an  urgent  letter  to  Carlstadt, 
in  which  he  conjured  him  to  desist  from  his  intem- 
perate demonstrations. 

In  a  letter  to  Melancthon,  he  implored  him  to 
use  his  utmost  exertions  to  prevent  the  prince  from 
staining  his  hands  with  the  blood  of  the  new  proph- 
ets.:}: And  writing  ti  little  later  to  the  citizens  of 
Wittemberg,  he  said, 

"You  are  directing  your  energies  against  the 
mass,  images,  and  other  comparatively  unimportant 
matters,  and  in  doing  so,  la^dng  aside  that  faith 
and  charity  of  which  you  have  so  much  need.  You 
have  afflicted,  by  your  outrageous  conduct,  many 
pious  men — men  perhaj)S  better  than  yourselves. 
You  have  forgotten  what  is  due  to  the  weak.  If 
the  strong  run  on  at  their  utmost  speed,  regardless 
of  their  feebler  bsethren  who  advance  more  slowly, 
these  last  must  be  left  helpless  behind — must  needs 
succumb. 

"  It  is  by  the  aid  of  the  word  alone  that  we  must 
*  Mourer.  f  Corp.  Eef.,  I.,  5G6.  |  Michelet,  p.  115. 


OF  MAKTIN  LUTHEE.  445 

combat ;  by  that  we  must  conquer  ;  by  that  we  must 
jDuU  doAvn  what  our  opponents  have  raised  up  by 
violence  or  fraud.  I  condemn  only  by  the  word : 
let  Jiim  who  believes,  believe,  and  follow  me ;  let 
him  who  believes  not,  believe  not,  and  go  his  way 
in  peace.  No  one  must  be  compelled  to  the  faith, 
or  to  the  things  of  the  faith,  against  his  will;  he 
must  be  prevailed  on  by  faith  alone.  I  also  con- 
demn the  worship  of  images;  but  I  would  have 
them  assailed  by  the  Scripture,  and  not  by  blows 
and  fire.  I  would  destroy  not  them,  but  the  popu- 
lar faith  in  them.  To  effect  this  object  must  be  the 
work  of  holy  writ,  not  of  unseemly  violence."* 

But  despite  these  sober  and  wise  words  of  the 
great  reformer,  the  disturbances  at  Wittemberg 
continued  to  increase.  Luther  then  determined  to 
quit  Wartburg  without  waiting  to  obtain  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  elector,  and  to  repair  to  that  city  where 
his  presence  was  so  ardently  desired.  He  had 
already  proved,  on  more  than  one  occasion,  that 
where  duty  beckoned  him  he  would  go,  whatever 
personal  dangers  might  beset  his  -path,  and  though 
legions  of  devils  blocked  the  way.  His  only  fear 
now  was,  lest  his  course  might  compromise  the 
prince ;  but  he  thought  rightly,  as  the  sequel  proved, 
that  the  emperor  was  so  engaged  in  pushing  the 
war  against  France  that,  amid  the  clash  of  arms, 
his  movements  would  escajoe  notice. 

Accordingl}',  after  a  retirement  of  about  ten 
months,  from  May,  1521,  to  March,  1522,  he  left  the 

<*  Liitlier's  letter  to  the  citizens  of  Wittemberg,  Dec.,  1521. 


446  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

donjon-keep  of  Wartburg  for  ever,  and  set  out  upon 
liis  journey  for  Wittemberg. 

He  liad  allowed  his  beard  to  grow,  and  laid  aside 
his  pilgrim's  staif  for  a  stout  horse  and  a  riding- 
whip.  His  monastic  habiliments  were  exchanged 
for  the  steel  cuirass,  the  long,  heavy  sword,  the 
plumed  casque,  the  sj)urs  and  boots  of  a  man-at- 
arms  of  the  sixteenth  century.  In  this  warlike  cos- 
tume, amid  a  crowd  of  valets  and  a  cloud  of  dust, 
his  painter  friend,  Lucas  Cranach,  has  represented 
him  as  making  his  entry  into  Wittemberg.* 

One  of  the  historians  of  the  Reformation  relates 
a  curious  incident  of  the  journey: 

"  John  Kressler,  a  young  theologian  of  St.  Gall, 
was  proceeding  with  a  friend  to  Wittemberg,  to  fin- 
ish his  studies  there,  when  one  evening,  in  an  inn 
named  the  '  Black  Bear,'  situated  near  the  gate  of 
Jena,  he  met  Luther  disguised  as  a  cavalier.  Nei- 
ther of  the  young  men  was  acquainted  with  his 
person.  He  was  seated  at  a  table  reading  a  little 
book,  which  the  inquisitive  students  soon  discov- 
ered to  be  a  Psalter  in  Hebrew.  The  cavalier  po- 
litely saluted  them,  and  invited  them  to  a  seat  at  his 
table. 

"  In  the  conversation  which  ensued,  he  asked 
them  what  they  thought  of  Luther  in  Switzerland. 
Kressler  replied,  that  some  there  knew  not  how  to 
honor  him  sufficiently,  and  thanked  God  daily  for 
having  sent  him  to  vindicate  and  raise  up  the  wound- 
ed and  shackled  truth ;  vdiile  others,  more  particu- 
*  Audin. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHER.  447 

larly  the  priests,  denounced  liim  as  a  lieretic,  who 
ought  to  be  condignly  punished. 

"  From  some  words  which  fell  from  the  land- 
lord, the  travellers  were  disposed  to  think  that  the 
mysterious  trooper  who  thus  read  the  Hebrew  Psal- 
ter was  Ulric  Yon  Hiitten. 

"By  and  by  in  came  some  merchants.  One 
of  them,  soon  after  his  arrival,  pulled  out  of  his 
pocket  a  pamphlet  of  Luther's  just  published,  and 
not  yet  bound,  and  asked  the  rest  of  the  company 
whether  they  had  yet  seen  it. 

"  In  the  course  of  the  conversation  which  arose 
hereupon,  the  cavalier  spoke  of  the  indisposition  to 
approach  religious  toj^ics  then  manifested  by  the 
princes  assembled  at  the  diet  of  Nuremberg.  He 
also  expressed  a  fervent  hope  that  evangelical  truth 
would  bear  fuller  fruit  in  the  persons  of  future  teach- 
ers, not  poisoned,  like  their  predecessors,  with  pa- 
pal errors. 

"  One  of  the  merchants  replied, '  I  am  not  learn- 
ed in  these  matters;  but  to  my  mind,  Liither  must 
be  decidedly  one  of  two  things,  either  an  angel  from 
heaven  or  a  demon  from  hell;  and  at  any  rate,  he 
is  so  remarkable  a  person  that  I  have  put  by  ten 
florins  to  go  and  confess  to  him.' 

"  This  passed  at  supper.  Previously  to  the  meal, 
Luther  had  arranged  with  the  host  to  pay  the  bill 
for  the  whole  party.  When  they  separated  for  the 
night,  Luther,  giving  a  hand  to  each  of  the  young 
Swiss — the  merchants  had  gone  out  on  their  busi- 
ness— requested  them,  on  their  arrival  at  Wittem- 


448  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

berg,  to  go  and  salute,  on  liis  part,  their  country- 
man, Dr.  Jerome  Schurff.  On  their  asking  him  what 
name  they  should  mention,  he  replied,  '  Merely  tell 
him  that  he  who  is  to  come  salutes  him ;  he  will  not 
fail  to  comprehend  these  words.' 

"  When  the  merchants,  on  their  return  to  the 
inn,  learned  from  the  landlord  that  he  suspected 
that  the  strange  cavalier  was  Luther  himself,  Avith 
whom  they  had  supped,  they  were  inconsolable  at 
not  having  known  it  earher,  so  that  they  might 
have  shown  him  greater  respect,  and  saved  them- 
selves the  shame  of  making  so  many  indifferent  re- 
marks. 

"  They  arose  early  in  the  morning  to  wait  upon 
him,  and  offered  a  thousand  apologies;  Luther  how- 
ever only  tacitly  admitted  that  it  was  he. 

"  The  Swiss  learned  the  name  of  their  strange 
companion  from  Dr.  Schurff,  to  whom  they  had  gone 
on  reaching  Wittemberg ;  so  that  when  Luther  ar- 
rived, they  met  him  most  cordially."* 

Luther  meantime  hastened  on.  From  the  neigh- 
borhood of  Leipsic  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
elector,  informing  him  that  he  had  quitted  the 
asylum  which  his  kindness  had  provided,  and  speak- 
ing in  the  strongest  terms  of  the  anxiety  which 
afflicted  his  mind  on  account  of  the  disorders  into 
Avhich  the  university  had  fallen.  He  affirmed  that 
it  was  not  for  his  own  safety  that  he  trembled,  but 
for  that  of  the  just  emancipated  gospel ;  and  he 
added,  that  since  he  had-  found  it  vain  to  make  sub- 

*  Maxiieiuecke,  I. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  449 

missions  to  the  pride  of  his  enemies,  and  to  convince 
them  bj  persuasion  of  the  rectitude  of  his  conduct, 
he  should  for  the  future  pursue  his  course  without 
regard  either  to  their  threats  or  their  wiles.  "I 
write  this,  your  highness,"  he  concluded,  "  in  order 
that  you  may  know  that  my  journey  to'Wittemberg 
is  made  under  a  protection  infinitely  more  powerful 
than  yours.  I  am  willing  that  you  should  abandon 
me  ;  the  cause  for  which  I.  struggle  has  no  need  of 
the  sword  of  princes  to  support  or  further  it.  God 
will  himself  defend  it  without  the  aid  of  man.  As 
for  you,  remain  quiet ;  you  have  already  done  too 
much.  If  I  am  taken  and  put  to  death,  you  will  be 
free  from  blame,  for  I  have  refused  to  obey  you. 
Whatever  befalls,  gracious  prince,  resist  not  the 
emperor  on  my  account.  Leave  him  free  to  act  his 
pleasure  in  your  dominions;  let  him  deprive  your 
subjects  of  their  possessions,  of  their  lives  ;  he  can- 
not command  so  powerful  a  prince  as  3'ourself  to 
take  away  my  life  with  your  own  hands.  But  shoidd 
he  even  do  this,  let  me  only  know  it,  and  whether 
you  believe  me,  or  believe  me  not,  know  this,  that 
for  your  love  of  me,  3-our  life,  your  soul,  your  pos- 
sessions shall  be  safe."'''" 

On  receiving  this  letter  the  affectionate  and 
solicitous  elector  dispatched  Schurff  to  meet  Luther 
and  endeavor  to  persuade  him  to  return  to  "Wart- 
burg  for  a  little,  in  order  that  he  might  bring  his 
aj&'airs  before  the  new  diet,  then  assembling  at  Nu- 
remberg, where  he  hoped  that  the  whole  tpiestion 
•  Seckendorf,  Sect.  CXIX.,  295. 


450  THE   LIFE  AND  TIMES 

might  receive  a  careful  and  more  impartial  investi- 
gation. This  failing,  Schurff  was  empowered  to 
demand  of  Luther  his  reasons  for  precipitation. 

Dr.  Schurff  met  the  intrepid  monk  some  miles 
from  Wittemberg,  on  the  7th  of  March,  and  strove 
in  vain  to  prevent  his  reentrance  into  the  city. 
Luther  gave  his  friend,  however,  his  reasons  for  ad- 
hering to  his  determination  :  first,  that  the  church 
demanded  his  reappearance ;  second,  that  disorder 
had  crej)t  in  among  his  flock  ;  thirdly,  that  he  wish- 
ed to  avert,  as  far  as  in  him  lay,  the  smouldering 
insurrection  which  he  rightly  regarded  as  threaten- 
ing the  country.  These  reasons  he  wrote  out  for 
the  elector's  inspection,  and  added,  "I  have  been 
called,  and  I  will  go ;  time  presses ;  let  destiny  be 
accomplished  in  the  name  of  Christ,  master  alike  of 
life  and  death.  Satan  in  my  absence  has  pene- 
trated into  my  fold  and  committed  ravages  which 
my  presence  alone  can  remedy.  A  letter  would  not 
quiet  the  commotion ;  I  must  make  use  of  my  own 
eyes  and  mouth  to  see  and  speak." 

Requesting  Schurff  to  dispatch  this  missive  to 
his  electoral  grace  with  all  speed,  Luther  pressed 
forward,  and  reentering  "Wittemberg  that  same  day, 
was  clasped  once  more  in  the  arms  of  his  devoted 
friends. 

Nor  had  he  miscalculated  the  effect  of  his  pres- 
ence. The  course  of  sermons  which  he  proceeded 
to  deliver  exorcised  the  devil  of  disorder,  and  the 
new  prophets  at  once  quitted  the  city.'^  Luther 
*  Michelet,  p.  120,  note. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  451 

was  destined,  however,  to  liave  a  severe  tussle  witli 
Carlstadt,  wlio,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  gave  way  for 
a  time,  outwardly  at  least,  to  his  colleague's  impres- 
sive exhortations,  and  resumed  his  lectures  at  the 
universit}^  ;*  but  7)iars  gravior  sub  pace  latet — war, 
bitterer  for  its  disguise,  followed  presently. 
»  L.  Epp.  II.,  281. 


452  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTEE   XXXV. 

Aftee  exorcising  tlie  spirit  of  discord,  Avliich 
■was  liis  first  care  on  liis  return  to  Wittemberg, 
Lutlier  sat  down  at  his  dear  Philip's  side,  in  the 
restored  quiet  of  tlie  Augustine  monastery,  where 
he  still  continued  to  reside,  though  it  was  optional 
with  others  whether  they  should  do  so  or  not,  for  a 
final  revision  of  his  translation  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

At  length  the  work  was  completed.  It  was 
turned  over  to  the  i:)rinters,  who  seemed  in  their 
turn  to  be  impressed  with  its  importance,  so  zeal- 
ously did  they  push  it  forward.  Luther  informs  us 
that  three  presses  were  constantly  employed  in 
printing  the  German  Testament,  and  that  ten  thou- 
sand sheets  were  daily  struck  off,"  an  immense 
nnmber  for  those  rude  typographical  days. 

On  the  21st  of  September,  1522,  the  first  com- 
plete edition  of  three  thousand  copies,  in  two  folio 
volumes  appeared,  with  this  simple  title  :  The  New 
Testament — German — Wittembeeg.1- 

This  at  once  brought  this  portion  of  the  sacred 
oracles  within  the  reach  and  comprehension  of  the 
common,  unlearned  people,  and  was  the  greatest 
stride  towards  success  which  the  Reformation  had 
3'et  made.  Luther  based  his  whole  doctrine  on  the 
holy  writ ;  but  while  that  lay  locked  up  in  the  Greek 
«  L.  Epp.  II.,  236.  t  Ibid. 


OF  MAKTIN  LUTHER.  453 

or  Latin,  the  masses  were  of  course  unable  to  de- 
cide whether  Luther's  construction  or  that  of  the 
priests  was  the  correct  one.  Now,  at  one  stroke, 
Luther  had  created  a  public  opinion  to  which  he 
might  appeal,  an  opinion  as  au  fait  of  the  facts  and 
of  the  text  in  question  as  the  most  inflated  doctor  of 
them  all. 

The  Testament  was  sold  at  a  florin  and  a  half  a 
copy,  equivalent  to  about  eight  dollars  of  our  money, 
and  in  an  incredibly  short  time  the  first  edition  was 
exhausted.  A  second,  a  third,  a  fourth  followed, 
until,  by  the  year  1533,  seventeen  editions  had  been 
printed  and  sold  at  Wittemberg,  thirteen  at  Augs- 
burg, twelve  at  Basle,  one  at  Erfurth,  one  at  Grim- 
ma,  one  at  Leij^sic,  and  thirteen  at  Strasburg* — 
fifty-eight  editions  in  eleven  years.  Such  was  the 
appetite  with  which  greedy  Germany  devoured  the 
German  translation  of  the  Scripture. 

"  Written,"  says  a  competent  authoritj'-,  "  in  the 
very  tone  of  the  holy  writings,  in  a  language  yet  in 
its  youthful  prime,  and  which  for  the  first  time  dis- 
played its  great  beauties,  the  German  Testament 
moved  all  classes,  the  highest  equally  with  the  low- 
est, and  it  was  speedily  recognized  as  a  national 
work.  The  Bible  thus  given  to  the  people  recalled 
the  truant  mind  of  man,  which  had  been  lost  for  dis- 
mal ages  in  the  tortuous  lab3'rintli  of  scholasticism, 
to  the  divine  fountain  of  salvation." 

While  the  New  Testament  was  going  through  the 
press,   the   indefatigable    reformer    commenced    a 
*  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  II.,  p.  75. 


454  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

translation  of  the  Old  Testament.  This  was  pub- 
lished in  parts  as  they  were  finished,  and  was  ab- 
sorbed as  quickly  as  the  gospel  had  been.  It  was 
not  until  some  years  later  that  the  Old  and  New 
Testaments  were  bound  together,  and  the  complete 
Bible  was  given  to  the  peoj^le. 

But  while  the  masses  received  the  Bible  with 
joy,  the  adherents  of  Rome  scornfully  rejected  it. 
Bavaria,  Brandenburg,  Austria — all  these  states 
which  bowed  beneath  the  Boman  yoke,  decreed 
that  the  Testament  should  not  be  sold  within  their 
borders,  but  should  be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the 
magistrates.  "  But  despite  my  prohibition,"  wrote 
duke  George  of  Saxony,  "  many  thousands  of  copies 
were  sold  and  read  in  my  dominions." 

Perceiving  that  it  could  not  suppress  this  popu- 
lar work,  the  Roman  see  had  recourse  to  stratagem  : 
it  published  a  German  version,  which  it  stamped 
with  its  own  imprimatur.  In  reaHty  this  was  Lu- 
ther's translation,  altered  in  various  places  to  con- 
form with  the  Romish  traditions.*  Still  the  people 
preferred  the  Lutheran  version,  and  continued  to 
purchase  the  Wittemberg  editions. 

At  about  the  time  of  the  publication  of  the  first 
edition  of  the  New  Testament  at  Wittemberg,  Leo 
X.  died  suddenly,  at  the  early  age  of  forty-five,  and 
in  the  full  vigor  of  his  faculties.  Dying  thus  in  the 
flower  of  his  age,  this  pontiff  left  the  Roman  see 
little  edified  or  profited  by  the  splendor  of  his  rep- 
utation. Those  mocking  letters  which  he  had  so 
*  Eoscoe's  Life  of  Leo  X. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  455 

highly  valued,  found  themselves  unable  to  sneer 
down  the  lieforniation,  and  Leo  dropped  the  tiara 
just  when  the  new  publication  at  "Wittemberg  had 
smitten  the  papacy  with  terrific  force. 

Leo  X.  left  enormous  debts,  and  his  cheated 
creditors  folloAved  him  to  his  grave,  loading  his 
name  with  curses.  The  satirical  Ptomans  pro- 
nounced this  funeral  oration  upon  him  :  "  Leo,  you 
gained  your  pontificate  like  a  fox ;  you  held  it  like 
a  lion  ;  and  you  left  it  like  a  dog."* 

His  successor  was  the  octogenarian  cardinal 
Tortosa,  a  native  of  Utrecht,  a  conceited  pedant, 
who  had  been  invested  with  the  Roman  purple  in 
1517,  through  the  influence  of  Charles  V.,  whose 
tutor  he  had  been,  and  he  now  reigned  under  the 
title  of  Adrian  YI. 

This  election  had  been  manoeuvred  by  the  subtle 
Cardinal  de  Medici,  afterwards  Clement  YIIL,  who, 
seeing  that  he  had  then  no  chance  of  clutching  the 
tiara,  desired  to  fill  the  pontifical  throne  with  a 
pope  whose  advanced  3'ears  might  be  his  title-deed 
to  the  succession. 

But  the  election  was  very  unpopular  in'  Italy. 
Sleidan  relates  that  the  Romans  were  so  exasperated 
at  this  selection  of  a  foreigner,  that  the  members  of 
the  holy  conclave  thought  themselves  fortunate  to 
have  escaped  being  ducked  in  the  Tiber.t 

But  in  Utrecht  great  joy  was  manifested ;  ban- 
ners were  flung  out,  upon  which  this  legend  was  in- 

c-  Eanke's  History  of  tho  Popes. 

t  Sleidan,  Hist,  de  la  Ref.,  I.,  p.  124. 


456  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

scribed  :  "  Utreclit  planted  ;  Louvain  watered ;  the 
emperor  gave  the  increase;"  to  which  a  wag  ap- 
pended, "  And  God  had  nothing  to  do  with  it."* 

Meantime  the  diet  had  met  at  Nuremberg,  and 
Adrian  had  written  a  very  severe  letter  to  Frederick 
of  Saxony,  in  which  he  charged  him  with  apostasy, 
and  urged  him,  as  he  valued  his  soul's  salvation,  to 
make  amends  for  his  past  wicked  connivance  at 
heresy,  by  energetically  striving  to  secure  Luther's 
conviction  at  Nuremberg. f 

But  though  every  effort  was  made  by  the  new 
pontiff,  and  by  his  nuncio  in  attendance  upon  the 
diet,  the  states  of  the  empire,  emboldened  by  the 
absence  of  the  emperor,  could  not  be  persuaded  to 
j)ronounce  an  opinion  upon  the  Augustine  further 
than  this  collateral  one  :  they  demanded,  as  Luther 
had  done,  the  convocation  of  a  free  council ;  they 
complained  of  the  grievances  under  which  Germany 
had  labored  for  centuries,  owing  to  the  Roman 
domination ;  and  exhibiting  to  Rome  a  list  of  evils 
which  needed  correction,  with  one  hand,  Avitli  the 
other  the  diet  showed  Germany  its  decree :  for  the 
present,  no  interference  with  the  Reformation.:}: 

This  decision  Avas  regarded  as  a  triumph  by  the 
reformers.  Toleration  was  all  that  they  ventured 
to  demand  of  the  state ;  the  concession  of  that  ex- 
ceeded their  wildest  dreams  of  success.  Conse- 
quently the  adherents  of  reform  rent  the  air  with 
their  hilarious  shouts. 

*  Sleidan,  Hist,  de  la  Eef.,  I.,  p.  12-4.  f  Pallavicini. 

t  Meurer,  Sleidan,  Myconius,  Van  Brunt. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  457 

But  if  Germany  laughed,  Italy  raged  and  sobbed 
ill  curses. 

In  the  midst  of  its  jubilation,  the  Reformation 
beheld  a  new  and  mighty  champion  descend  into 
the  arena  to  combat  it.  Henry  VIII.  of  England, 
"  a  prince  whose  hand  was  always  raised  against 
his  adversaries,  his  wives,  or  his  favorites,"  greedy 
for  literary  distinction,  and  anxious  to  attract  the 
notice  of  the  pontiff,  wrote  in  this  same  year,  1522, 
a  philippic  against  Luther,  entitled,  A  Defence  of  the 
Seven  Sacraments,  against  3Iartin  Luther,-  by  the  most 
invincible  King  of  England  and  France,  Lord  of  Lre- 
Icmd,  Henry,  the  Eighth  of  that  Name* 

In  this  vapid  treatise  the  whole  Romish  doctrine 
is  defended,  and  the  crowned  theologian  asserts 
that  "if  Luther,"  whom  he  calls  the  "wolf?)f  hell," 
the  "  poisonous  viper,"  the  "  limb  of  the  devil,"  and 
other  similarly  soft  names,  gathering  the  vilest  of 
epithets  from  the  gutter  of  language,  "  cannot  be 
constrained  to  silence,  he  should  for  once  be  made 
useful  to  the  world  by  the  terrible  example  of  his 
death."t 

The  gross  adulation  of  which  Henry  was  the  re- 
cipient upon  the  publication  of  this  tract,  whose 
only  strength  consisted  in  its  scurrility,  and  of 
which  its  royal  author  lived  to  be  ashamed,:!:  is 
scarcely  credible. §  But  the  poor  king's  compla- 
cency was  short-lived. 

«  Collyer,  Eccl.  Hist.     Burnet,  Hist.  Eof.  iu  Eng.,  I.,  40. 
■j-  Knapi)'s  "Naclilese,"  II.,  273.  J  Burnet. 

§  See  CocliL'cus.  . ' 

Luther.  20 


4:58  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

In  the  democracy  of  letters,  kings  are  unknown ; 
titles  are  not  so  important  as  quality :  in  the  literary 
guild,  truth  only  wears  a  crown,  Liither  proved 
this  in  his  reply  to  Henry:  "Nay,  an  thou 'It 
mouth,  I'll  rant,"  exclaimed* the  fiery  reformer,  in 
spirit,  if  not  in  words.  And  his  pamphlet  as  much 
exceeded  that  of  his  kingly  antagonist  in  terror  of 
invective,  as  in  strength  of  argument  and  aptness  of 
illustration. 

Luther  opened  his  response  to  Henry  by  re- 
proaching that  monarch  with  basing  his  doctrines 
wholly  upon  human  traditions.  He  said,  "  As  for 
me,  I  never  cease  crying.  Gospel,  gospel;  Christ, 
Christ ;  and  my  adversaries  retort,  Custom,  custom ; 
ordinances,  ordinances;  fathers,  fathers.  St.  Paul 
says,  Ld  not  your  faith  stand  in  the  wisdom  of  men, 
hut  VI  tliepoiver  of  God/'  By  this  thunder-clap  the 
apostle  disperses,  as  a  whirlwind  scatters  the  dust, 
all  the  hobgoblins  of  this  Henry." 

After  refuting  in  detail  the  errors  with  which 
Henry's  tract  swarmed,  and  refuting  them  in  that 
disdainful,  yet  perspicuous  and  spirited  style  pecul- 
iar to  him,  he  turns,  at  the  conclusion,  like  a  stag 
at  bay. 

"To  all  the  words  of  the  fathers  and  of  men,  of 
angels  and  of  devils,"  he  wrote,  "  I  oppose  not  old 
customs,  not  the  multitude  of  men,  but  the  word  of 
eternal  majesty,  the  gospel,  which  even  my  adver- 
saries are  obliged  to  recognize.  To  this  I  hold 
fast,  on  this  I  repose,  in  this  I  boast,  in  this  I  exult 
«  1  Oor.  2  : 5. 


OF  MAKTIN  LUTHEE.  459 

and  triumpli  over  the  papists,  tlie  Tliomists,  the 
Henrys,  the  sophists,  and  all  the  swine  of  hell. 
The  King  of  heaven  is  with  me.  For  this  reason  I 
fear  nothing,  although  a  thousand  Augustines,  a 
thousand  Cyprians,  and  a  thousand  of  these  church- 
es which  Henrj  defends,  should  rise  up  against  me. 
It  is  a  small  matter  that  I  should  despise  and  revile 
a  king  of  the  earth,  since  he  himself  does  not  fear 
in  his  writings  to  blaspheme  the  King  of  heaven, 
and  to  profane  his  holy  name  by  the  most  impudent 
falsehoods. 

"  I  will  not  be  gentle  towards  thee,  king  of  Eng- 
land. I  know  that  it  is  vain  for  me  to  humble 
myself,  to  give  way,  to  entreat,  to  try  peaceful 
methods.  At  length  I  will  show  mj^self  more  terri- 
ble towards  these  furious  beasts,  who  goad  me  daily 
with  their  horns.  I  will  turn  mine  upon  them.  I 
will  provoke  Satan  until  he  falls  lifeless  and  ex- 
hausted. If  this  heretic  does  not  recant,  says 
Henry  YIII.,  the  new  Thomas,  he  must  be  burned 
alive.  Such  are  the  weapons  you  employ  against 
me ;  the  fury  of  the  stupid  asses  and  swine  of  the 
brood  of  Thomas  Aquinas,  then  the  stake.  Well, 
then,  be  it  so.  Let  these  hogs  advance,  if  they 
dare,  and  let  them  burn  me.  I  reside  at  Wittem- 
berg — I  await  them.  After  my  death,  though  my 
ashes  should  be  strewn  into  a  thousand  seas,  they 
will  rise,  reunite,  pursue,  and  swallow  up  this  abom- 
inable herd.  Living,  I  shall  be  the  enemy  of  the 
papacy ;  burned,  I  shall  be  its  destruction.  Go,  then, 
swine  of  St.  Thomas,  do  Avliat  scemeth  good  to  you. 


400  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

You  will  ever  find  Luther  like  a  bear  upon  jowc 
way,  and  as  a  lion  upon  your  path.  He  will  spring 
upon  you  whithersoever  you  go,  and  will  never  leave 
you  at  peace  until  he  has  broken  your  iron  heads, 
and  ground  your  brazen  foreheads  into  dust. 

"Papists,  will  you  never  cease  from  your  vile 
attacks?  Do  what  you  please.  Nevertheless,  before 
that  gospel  which  I  preach,  down  must  come  popes, 
bishops,  priests,  monks,  princes,  devils,  death,  sin, 
and  all  that  is  not  Christ,  or  in  Christ."* 

This  fierce  pamphlet  fell  like  an  avalanche  upon 
poor  Henry,  and  he  felt  the  laurels  wither  upon  his 
head  even  in  the  full  flush  of  his  triumph.  He  had 
no  wish  to  provoke  a  fresh  assault  from  this  Titanic 
monk,  who  gloanied  like  an  avenging  Nemesis  upon 
the  ecclesiastical  horizon,  who  grasped  such  thun- 
der-bolts, and  spoke  such  daggers. 

The  festivities  of  Greenwich  were  interrupted ; 
the  courtiers  stood  aghast ;  while  the  bishop  of 
Bochester  and  Sir  Thomas  More  tottered  feebly 
forward  to  the  support  of  their  smitten  sovereign. 

When  Henry  had  recovered  his  breath,  he  wrote 
to  the  elector  and  to  duke  George  of  Saxony,  bit- 
terly complaining  of  Luther's  tract,  and  conjuring 
them  to  unite  in  thrusting  him  from  their  joint 
dominions. 

But  while  duke  George  was  very  willing  to  com- 
ply with  this  request,  and  had  indeed  for  years  been 
exerting  every  energy  to  secure  Luther's  condem- 
nation and  banishment,  the  friendly  elector  contin- 
*  L.  0pp.,  (Leipsic,)  XVIII. ,  209. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  401 

ued  to  stand,  like  a  rampart,  between  tlie  monk  and 
all  harm ;  replying  to  the  solicitations  of  the  wound- 
ed English  king,  who  had  provoked  the  combat, 
and  to  the  menaces  of  duke  George,  with  impertur- 
bable calmness :  "  It  may  not  be,  good  king  ;  it  may 
not  be,  dear  cousin.""^ 

The  result  of  this  rencontre  was  decidedly  favora- 
ble to  the  Beformation.  "  So  great  a  name  as  that 
of  the  English  Henry  mixed  up  in  the  dispute,  and 
beaten,"  says  Paul  Sarpi,  "  served  to  give  it  eclaU 
to  render  it  more  curious,  and  to  conciliate  general 
favor  towards  Luther,  as  usually  happens  in  com- 
bats and  tournaments,  where  the  spectators  have 
always  a  leaning  towards  what  seems  the  weaker 
side,  and  rejoice  in  its  triumph."t 

«-  L.  0pp.  XVin.,  213. 

t  Hist.  Council  of  Trent,  pp.  15,  16. 


462  THE   LIFE   AND   TIMES 


CHAPTEE   XXXYI. 

On  the  14tli  of  September,  1523,  Pope  Adrian 
YI.  died.  The  Romans,  delighted  at  being  thus 
delivered  from  the  rigorous  rule  of  the  ascetic  for- 
eigner, are  said  to  have  crowned  the  door  of  his 
physician  with  flowers,  and  to  have  inscribed  over 
it  these  words:  "  To  the  saviour  of  his  country y- 

He  was  succeeded  by  Giulio  Medici,  another 
son  of  that  famous  Florentine  house,  and  a  cousin 
of  Leo  X.  Like  Leo,  he  was  fond  of  gayeties,  of 
luxury,  and  of  idleness.  All  idea  of  reform  van- 
ished under  the  new  regime,  and  the  Keformation 
was  mainly  hated  by  the  new  j^ontiff,  because  it 
interfered  with  his  pleasures  and  meddled  with  the 
established  routine. 

Meantime  the  Eeformation  continued  to  spread. 
Several  princes,  distinguished  alike  for  their  virtue 
and  their  rank,  became  its  open  adherents.  The 
young  landgrave  of  Hesse,  who  had  seen  and  be- 
came interested  in  Luther  at  Worms,  and  Prince 
Albert  of  Brandenburg,  both  men  of  singular  en- 
ergy and  strength  of  character,  had  recently  espous- 
ed the  reform  tenets;  and  about  this  time  George 
of  Palenz,  bishop  of  Sumland,  declared  his  conver- 
sion to  the  new  theology.  All  Denmark  was  Lu- 
theran, and  the  free  cities  of  Magdeburg  and  of 

*  Cochlaeus. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  4G3 

Nuremberg  embraced  the  reform  bj  solemn  decrees 
of  their  respective  senates.* 

The  flame  thus  ht  up  rapidly  extended  itself,  and 
before  the  close  of  the  year  1623,  the  Reformation 
counted  among  its  ardent  adherents  and  firm  allies 
Livonia,  Mecldenberg,  the  duchy  of  Holstein,  Pome- 
rania,  Westphalia,  Leipsic,  Brunswick,  and  Stras- 
burg.f 

But  if  the  reformers  were  active,  Home  was  not 
idle.  Startled  by  the  spread  of  the  heresj^  she  be- 
gan to  muster  her  squadrons,  and  bade  her  fierce 
crusaders  whet  their  swords  in  preparation  for  a 
blood}''  glut  of  her  vengeance. 

Despairing  of  success  from  the  obstinate  mem- 
bers of  the  Germanic  diet,  still  in  session  at  Nurem- 
berg, she  turned  elsewhere  for  succor-.  By  skilful 
manipulation,  the  new  pontiff,  Clement  VII.,  gained 
over  to  the  support  of  his  wavering  cause  a  number 
of  the  most  powerful  houses  in  the  empire.  The 
Swabian  league,  the  wealthiest  cities  in  the  empire, 
the  oldest  and  most  powerful  nobles,  Charles  V. 
himself — out  of  such  materials  did  Clement  con- 
struct his  new  rampart  against  the  Reformation. 

A  great  council,  convened  expressly  to  decide 
upon  the  policy  to  be  pursued  hj  the  Vatican  at 
this  momentous  juncture,  was  held  at  Eatisbon,  and 
attended  by  a  host  of  influential  nobles  and  illustri- 
ous prelates.:]:  After  a  conference  of  fifteen  daj's'  du- 
ration, the  most  severe  measures  for  the  extirpation 

*  Stebbiug,  Vol.  I.,  p.  142.  t  Corp.  Eef. 

t  Sleidcn,  Hist.  Eef. 


464  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

of  heresy  were  fixed  on ;  it  was  decided  to  "  cry 
liavoc,  and  let  slip  the  dogs  of  war"  against  the 
Eeformation. 

Then  a  pitiless  storm  of  persecution  arose.  Lu- 
ther trembled  for  the  tranquillity  of  Germany,  and 
did  his  utmost  to  still  the  tempest.  "  If  the  princes," 
said  he,  "  oppose  the  truth,  the  result  will  be  a 
confusion  which  will  destroy  princes,  magistrates, 
priests,  and  people.  I  fear  to  see  all  Germany,  ere 
long,  deluged  with  blood.  Let  us  rise  up  as  a  wall, 
and  preserve  our  people  from  the  wrath  of  God.  Na- 
tions are  not  now  what  they  have  heretofore  been. 
The  sword  of  civil  war  is  impending  over  the  heads 
of  our  kings.  They  are  resolved  to  destroy  Luther  ; 
but  Luther  is  resolved  to  save  them.  Christ  lives 
and  reigns,  and  I  shall  live  and  reign  with  him." 

But  these  prophetic  words  did  not  stay  the  perse- 
cution. Attempts  to  choke  the  heresy  in  blood  were 
made  in  various  sections.  In  the  Low  Countries, 
which  were  under  the  personal  supervision  of  Charles 
Y.,  and  especially  in  Antwerp,  the  Inquisition,  lui- 
der  the  congenial  charge  of  Hochstraaten,  revelled 
in  a  ghastly  carnival.  "  The  executions  have  begun," 
sadly  exclaimed  Erasmus.  "  At  last,"  cried  Luther, 
"  Christ  is  gathering  some  fruit  of  our  preaching, 
and  has  created  new  martyrs."  But  the  heretical 
fire  refused  to  be  dampened  b}^  this  bloody  baiDtism. 
"Wherever  the  inquisitors  raise  a  pile,"  said  Eras- 
mus, "ttiere  they  seem  to  have  been  sowing  here- 
tics."* 

*  Erasm.  Epp.  to  Diike  George. 


OF  MAETIN   LUTHER.  4G5 

"  Your  bonds  are  mine,"  shouted  Luther  from 
the  heights  of  Wittemberg.  "  Your  dungeons  and 
your  blazing  piles  are  mine;  "we  are  all  with  you, 
and  God  is  at  our  head."- 

But  while  these  dangers  menaced  nascent  Prot- 
estantism, while  Luther  stood  sadly  and  anxiously 
watching  this  holocaust  of  his  adherents,  a  neAV  anx- 
iety beset  him.  His  smouldering  feud  with  Carl- 
stadt  burst  forth,  and  assumed  alarming  propor- 
tions. 

The  quarrel  had  commenced  in  a  difference  be- 
tween them  in  their  interpretation  of  the  eucharist. 
Lnther  still  held  with  the  Roman  theologians,  and 
continued  to  hold  through  life,  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  real  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Sav- 
iour in  the  bread  and  wine.  Carlstadt  repudiated 
this  tenet  of  Eomanism  with  all  the  rest,  and  held 
that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament 
of  the  last  supper  were  typical,  not  real. 

Luther,  in  the  dispute  at  Leipsic,  had  explained 
the  words,  Tltou  art  Peter,  and  on  this  rock  I  will 
build  my  church,  by  separating  the  two  propositions, 
and  ajjplying  the  latter  to  Christ's  person. 

"  In  like  manner,"  said  Carlstadt,  "  the  words 
take,  eat,  refer  to  the  bread;  but  this  is  my  body  re- 
lates to  Jesus  Christ,  who  then  pointed  to  himself, 
and  intimated  by  the  symbol  of  breaking  the  bread, 
that  his  body  was  soon  to  be  broken." 

This  tj'pical  interpretation  of  the  mooted  pas- 
sage was  held  to  be  the  true  one  not  only  by  the 
*  L.  Epp.  II.,  464. 
20* 


466  THE  LIFE   AND  TIMES 

Swiss  reformers,  bj  Zwingle  and  Q^colampadius, 
but  also  by  a  number  of  the  German  reformed  the- 
ologians besides  Carlstadt,  by  Bucer  and  by  Capito, 
for  instance.  • 

But  Carlstadt  went  beyond  this  difference  of 
opinion.  His  zeal  against  the  images  now  returned 
in  full  force.  Impatient  of  the  restraint  exercised 
upon  him  at  Wittemberg,  and  conscientiously  de- 
sirous of  stereotyping  his  convictions  into  action, 
his  ill-regulated  zeal  impelled  him  to  quit  the  uni- 
versity early  in  1523.  He  did  so,  and  that  so  sud- 
denly, that  neither  his  colleagues  nor  the  elector 
were  apprized  of  his  intention,  Bepairing  to  the 
neighboring  village  of  Orlamund,  he  had  the  incum- 
bent of  the  church  there  dismissed,  and  he  was  him- 
self appointed  pastor  in  his  stead.  And  all  this 
also  occurred  without  the  permission  or  knowledge 
of  the  university  chapter  or  of  the  elector.* 

Carlstadt  then  began  to  propagate  his  doctrines. 
We  are  assured  that  his  imprudent  discourses  and 
enthusiastic  language  speedily  inflamed  the  minds 
of  his  hearers  in  those  agitated  times ;  and  the  jdco- 
ple,  believing  that  they  heard  a  second  Elijah,  has- 
tened under  his  direction  to  break  the  idols  of  Baal. 

The  dismayed  elector  dispatched  Luther  to  the 
scene  of  these  outbreaks,  in  the  hope  that  he  might 
restore  the  wonted  tranquillity.  But  so  far  was  this 
from  being  the  case,  that  he  was  almost  mobbed  by 
the  admirers  of  Carlstadt  on  reaching  Orlamund. 
His  exhortations  were  vain.  On  leaving  the  town, 
*  Spaliitin's  Annals.     Erasmiiis'  Epji. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEK.  467 

% 

he  was  followed,  hooted,  cursed.  "  Begone,  in  the 
name  of  all  the  devils,"  shouted  some;  "May  you 
break  your  neck  before  you  get  out  of  the  city," 
vociferated  others.  "I  was  glad,"  said  Luther 
afterwards,  in  relating  the  incident,  "I  was  glad  to 
escape  without  being  pelted  with  mud  and  stones."* 

The  indignant  elector  now  interfered,  and  ban- 
ished Carlstadt  from  the  electoral  states.t 

We  are  assured  that  Luther  had  absolutely  noth- 
ing to  do  with  these  severe  measures  of  his  j3rince.:{ 
But  Carlstadt  held  him  responsible  in  his  farewell 
address  to  his  flock  at  Orlamund,  which  he  signed, 
"  Andrew  Bodenstein,  expelled  by  Luther,  unheard, 
unconvicted." 

Li  narrating  this  sad  phase  of  the  Reformation, 
tliis  unhappy  breaking  of  a  long,  close  friendship, 
this  separation  amid  crimination  and  recrimination 
of  the  father  of  the  Reformation  and  his  earliest 
prominent  supporter,  D'Aubign^  remarks,  "  The  fa- 
naticism of  the  day  explains  the  direction  that  Lu- 
ther now  took.  Enthusiasts  Avere  not  content  with 
undervaluing  what  they  called  in  their  mystical  jar- 
gon the  'External  Word,'  that  is,  the  Bible,  and 
with  pretending  to  special  revelations  from  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  they  went  so  far  as  to  despise  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's  supper  as  something  outivard,  and 
they  spoke  of  an  imoard  communion  as  the  only 
true  communion. 

"  From  that  time,  in  every  attempt  to  explain  the 

*  L.  Epp.  II.,  579.  t  Dr.   Markeineke,  Eef.  Gesch. 

X  D'Aubigue,  Vol.  II.,  p.  164. 


468  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

# 

Lord's  supper  in  a  symbolical  raanner,  Lutlier  saw 
only  the  danger  of  weakening  the  authority  of  the 
holy  Scripture;  of  substituting  arbitrary  allegories 
for  their  real  meaning ;  of  spiritualizing  every  thing 
in  religion  ;  of  making  it  consist  not  in  the  gifts  of 
God,  but  in  the  impressions  of  men ;  and  of  substi- 
tuting by  these  means  for  true  Christianity  a  mys- 
ticism, a  theosophy,  a  fanaticism,  that  would  infal- 
libly become  its  grave. 

"  We  must  acknowledge  that,  had  it  not  been  for 
Luther's  violent  opposition,  the  mystical,  enthusias- 
tic, and  subjective  tendency  would  then  perhaps 
have  made  rapid  progress,  and  woidd  have  turned 
back  the  tide  of  blessings  which  the  Beformation 
was  to  spread  over  the  world."* 

But  despite  this  defence,  it  must  be  confessed" 
that,  in  the  several  interviews  which  Luther  had 
with  his  old  friend  and  coadjutor,  he  acted  harshly 
and  domineeringly,  and  that  this  haughty  course 
was  in  no  way  conducive  to  Carlstadt's  reconcilia- 
tion. The  point  upon  which  they  differed  was  one 
upon  which,  by  a  little  concession  on  both  sides, 
they  might  have  consented  to  differ.  They  would 
thus  have  avoided  that  fierce  quarrel  which  tore 
the  vitals  of  the  Beformation,  assailed  from  within 
and  from  without,  and  which  so  sorely  grieved  all 
good  men  and  true  throughout  Christendom. 

Carlstadt  first  took  refuge  at  Strasburg,  where  he 
published  several  works.  He  was  a  sound  Latin, 
Greek,  and  Hebrew  scholar,  says  Dr.  Schuer,  and 
*  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  IL,  159,  160. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  469 

Luther  acknowledged  liis  profound,  erudition.  Tar- 
rying but  a  short  time  at  Strasburg,  he  passed 
thence  into  Switzerland,  where  he  breathed  the  free 
air  which  had  nurtured  the  soaring  spirits  of  Zwiu- 
gle  and  of  (Ecolampadius.  "  Endowed  with  an  ele- 
vated mind,  Carlstadt  thus  sacrificed  his  reputation, 
his  rank,  his  home,  his  fiiends,  his  very  bread,  to 
his  convictions." 

Luther  was  much  dejected  on  his  old  friend's 
irate  departure;  but  observing  that  sadness  had 
also  taken  possession  of  the  discij)les  of  reform,  he 
forgot  his  own  troubles,  and  essayed  to  comfort  his 
friends.  "  Let  us  fight,"  he  said,  "  as  if  fighting 
for  another.  The  cause  is  God's,  the  care  is  God's, 
the  Avord  is  God's,  the  victory  is  God's,  and  to  God 
belongs  the  glory.  He  will  contend  and  conquer 
without  us.  Let  that  fall  which  ought  to  fall;  let 
that  stand  which  ought  to  stand.  It  is  not  our  own 
cause  that  either  Carlstadt  or  I  defend,  nor  is  it  our 
own  glory  that  we  seek."- 

While  Luther  still  smarted  from  the  hurt  in- 
flicted by  Carlstadt's  departure  from  Germany,  he 
was  attacked  by  another,  and  the  most  distinguished 
literary  adversary  against  whom  he  had  ever  been 
called  to  contend.  The  great  Erasmus  touched  his 
shield,  and  challenged  him  to  enter  into  a  theologi- 
cal debate  with  him. 

Henry  YIIL,  cut  to  the  quick  by  the  disdainful 
sarcasm  of  Luther's  reply  to  the  royal  treatise, 
proffered  a  pension  and  the  praise  of  all  good  men 
*  L.  Epp.  II.,  556. 


470  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

as  a  reward  to  any  one  wlio  should  undertake  his 
defence ;  at  the  same  time  he  apj)Hed  to  Erasmus, 
who  was  esteemed  the  foremost  writer  of  his  age — 
a  reputation  for  which  he  was  as  much  indebted  to 
the  racy  vigor  and  honhommic  of  his  style  as  to  his 
erudition. 

Keasoning  from  the  past,  Luther  had  a  right  to 
expect  that  the  sage  of  Rotterdam  would  join  him 
in  chastising  with  the  rod  of  his  irony  the  imper- 
fect and  bigoted  logic  of  the  English  Bluebeard. 
But  Erasmus  was  as  open  to  the  suggestions  of 
pride  as  Henry  himself;  therefore  when  the  mon- 
arch stooped  from  his  throne  to  solicit  his  aid,  the 
renegade  scholar  weakly  yielded  to  the  temptation 
of  having  a  monarch  for  his  friend,  rather  than  a 
monk,  however  eloquent,  renowned,  and  pious.* 

Accordingly  in  the  autumn  of  1524,  Erasmus  pub- 
lished his  famous  book  entitled  the  Diatribe,  which 
was  a  ^treatise  on  freeivill,  written  from  the  stand- 
point of  scholasticism.  Like  every  thing  from  his 
pen,  it  was  calm,  able,  and  philosophical.  It  greatly 
enlianced  his  contemporary  reputation,  and  was  felt 
to  be  a  severe  blow  at  the  Beformatiou  for  two  rea- 
sons: it  detached  from  its  ranks  a  scholar  who  had 
been  more  than  suspected  of  favoring  its  tenets ;  it 
hurt  the  reform  by  its  intrinsic  power  and  subtle 
sophisms. 

Luther  was  deeply  pained  by  this  disingenuous 
conduct  of  his  old  friend  and  correspondent :  Eras- 
mus had  been  among  the  earliest  to  encourage  him 
*  Stebbing,  Hist.  Eef. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  471 

to  enter  upon  liis  career  of  reform,  and  he  had 
looked  to  liini  for  sympath}-  and  support,  nor  had 
Luther  till  now  seen  reason  to  doubt  his  sincerity. 
The  defection  would  have  afflicted  him  from  what- 
ever cause  it  had  proceeded,  for  the  Reformation 
needed  belles-lettres  support;  but  occasioned  as  it 
was  by  the  meanest  of  vanities,  it  appeared  to  have 
happened  to  show  him  the  rottenness  of  worldly 
genius,  however  splendid,  and  to  teach  him  to  place 
less  trust  than  ever  in  human  helpers. 

The  "Diatribe''  created  a  sensation.  But  the 
timid  philosopher  could  scarce  credit  his  own  bold- 
ness. He  had  been  employed  during  the  past  ten 
years  in-  carefully  steering  his  scholastic  bark  so  as 
to  avoid  the  Scylla  of  reform  and  the  Charybdis  of 
the  pajDacy.  Now  he  had  deserted  this  middle 
course,  taken  his  faction,  allied  himself  with  the  side 
of  retrogression.  He  fixed  his  eyes  tremblingly 
upon  that  gauntlet  which  he  had  flung  down.  He 
knew  perfectly  the  Hercules  whom  he  had  sum- 
moned into  the  arena,  and  he  gave  way  to  bitter 
wailing :  "  Why  was  I  not  permitted  to  grow  old  in 
the  garden  of  the  muses'?"  he  exclaimed.  "  Here  am 
I  at  sixty  driven  into  the  arena,  and  holding  the 
cestus  and  the  net  of  a  gladiator,  instead  of  the  con- 
genial lyre.  I  am  congratulated  on  my  triumph, 
but  I  have  gone  beyond  my  sphere,  and  I  know  not 
that  I  triumph.  The  Keformation  is  daily  spread- 
ing."" 

Thus  did  the  timid  scholar  sing — not  a  jubilant 
*  Erasm.  Epp.,  p.  811. 


472  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

psean,  but  the  sad  and  tearful  notes  of  a  broken  and 
dejected  old  age. 

Lutlier  felt,  and  indeed  tlie  Eeformafion  de- 
manded, that  a  response  to  Erasmus  must  be  pen- 
ned. But  he  determined  to  take  his  time  for  the 
composition  of  his  answer,  so  that  it  should  be 
worthy  ahke  of  the  august  subject  and  of  the  emi- 
nent scholar  whom  it  was  to  rebut.  He  prefer- 
red to  wait,  and  even  to  endure  the  mocking  jeers 
of  his  enemies  at  his  delay,  rather  than  to  send  forth 
immediately  a  crude  work,  and  one  which  might 
but  imperfectly  exjDress  his  views.  He  therefore 
commenced  to  study  the  whole  subject  with  that 
thoroughness  which  was  an  essential  part  of  his 
intellectual  structure,  and  meanwhile  he  bided  his 
time. 

The  period  succeeding  the  return  of  Luther  to 
"Wittemberg  was  the  most  active  and  laborious  of 
his  life.  His  life  no  longer  presented  that  uni- 
formity which  had  characterized  its  earlier  phases. 
Descended  from  his  poetical  solitude  at  "Wartburg, 
and  plunged  into  the  most  pitiful  realities,  he  be- 
came a  prey  to  the  whole  world,  and  it  was  to  him 
that  all  the  enemies  of  Rome  addressed  themselves. 
All  flocked  to  him;  besieging  his  door  hourly, 
trooped  citizens,  doctors,  princes.  Diplomatic  enig- 
mas were  to  be  solved,  knotty  theological  points 
were  to  be  settled,  the  ethics  of  social  life  were  to 
be  laid  down. 

As  showing  Luther's  Titanic  literary  activity  at 
this  period,  it  may  be  stated  that  in  1520,  one  hun- 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  473 

dred  and  tliirty-tliree  works  came  from  his  own  pen; 
in  1522,  one  hundred  and  thirty;  in  1523,  one  hun- 
dred and  eighty-three,  and  thus  far  in  1524  nearly 
as  many.  To  ahnost  all  of  these  a  little  woodcut, 
from  Luther's  own  design,  was  prefixed.* 

It  has  been  well  said  that  it  was  the  aim  of  the 
Reformation  to  lead  mankind  to  that  ripe  age  which 
Christ  had  purchased  for  them,  and  to  free  them 
from  the  tutelage  in  which  the  subtle  craft  of  Eome 
had  imprisoned  them.  To  this  end,  Luther  now 
advocated  the  broadest  form  of  popular  education. 
The  multiplication  of  books,  the  estabhshment  of 
schools,  the  propagation  of  liberal  ideas — he  seized 
and  made  active  use  of  all  these  creators  of  en- 
lightened thought,  and  ere  long,  fi'om  the  chaotic 
darkness  of  the  middle  ages,  a  civilization  was  elab- 
orated which  was  the  jubilant  herald  of  the  new 
regime, 

Luther  knew  the  importance  of  interesting  the 
young,  of  initiating  them  into  the  temple  of  know- 
ledge. "  Dear  sirs,"  wrote  he  to  the  councillors  of 
the  German  cities,  "  we  annually  expend  much 
money  on  arquebuses,  roads,  and  dikes ;  why  should 
we  not  expend  a  little  to  give  one  or  two  school- 
masters to  our  poor  children  ? 

"  Busy  yourselves  with  the  children  ;  for  many 
parents  are  like  the  ostriches — they  arc  hardened 
towards  the  little  ones,  and  satisfied  with  laying  the 
egg,  they  afterwards  care  little  for  it.  The  prosper- 
ity of  a  city  does  not  consist  merely  in  heaping  up 
*  Aucliu. 


474  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

great  treasures,  in  building  strong  walls,  in  erecting 
splendid  mansions,  in  possessing  glittering  arms. 
If  madmen  fall  upon  such  rotten  prosperity,  its  ruin 
is  assured.  The  true  wealth  of  a  city,  its  safety, 
its  impregnable  strength,  is  to  have  man}^  worthy, 
serious,  and  well-educated  citizens.  And  whom 
must  we  blame  because  there  are  so  few  at  present 
but  you  magistrates  who  withhold  the  means,  and 
permit  our  youth  to  grow  up  like  trees  in  a  forest  ? 

"  Do  you  inquire  what  use  there  is  in  learning 
the  languages  and  in  literature?  Do  you  say,  'We 
can  read  the  Bible  very  well  in  German?'  Without 
languages  we  could  not  have  received  the  gospel. 
Languages  are  the  scabbard  that  contains  the  sword 
of  the  Spirit ;  they  are  the  casket  which  contains 
the  priceless  jewels  of  antique  thought;  they  are 
the  vessel  that  holds  the  wine;  and  as  the  gospel 
says,  they  are  the  baskets  in  which  the  loaves  and 
fishes  are  kept  to  feed  the  multitude. 

"  If  we  neglect  literature  we  shall  eventuall}^  lose 
the  gospel,  and  through  gross  ignorance  we  shall 
be  unable  first  to  write  in  Latin,  then  in  German. 
No  sooner  did  men  cease  to  cultiA'ate  the  languages 
than  Christendom  declined,  even  until  it  fell  under 
the  undisputed  dominion  of  the  pope.  But  no 
sooner  was  this  torch  relighted,  than  this  papal  owl 
fled  with  a  shriek  into  congenial  gloom.  Now  liter- 
ature is  so  much  honored  that  every  one  is  able  to 
appreciate  our  gospel,  and  to  perceive  that  it  is 
almost  as  pure  as  that  of  the  apostles  themselves. 

"  In  former  times  the  fathers  were  frequently 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  475 

mistaken,  because  tliey  were  ignorant  of  languages, 
and  in  our  daj's  tliere  are  some  who,  like  the  Wal- 
denses,  do  not  think  the  languages  of  any  use  ;  but 
although  their  doctrine  is  good,  they  have  often 
erred  in  the  real  meaning  of  the  sacred  text ;  they 
are  without  arms  against  error,  and  I  fear  me  much 
that  their  faith  will  not  remain  joure. 

"  If  the  languages  had  not  made  me  positive  as 
to  the  true  meaning  of  the  word,  I  might  have  still 
remained  a  chained  monk,  engaged  in  quietly 
preaching  Romish  errors  in  the  obscurity  of  a  clois- 
ter ;  the  jiope,  the  sophists,  and  their  antichristian 
empire  would  have  reiuained  unshaken."*'' 

Thus  wrote  this  wise  and  prophetic  monk  in  the 
early  part  of  the  sixteenth  century.  How  much  are 
we  in  advance  of  his  intelligence  to-day  ? 

In  obedience  to  this  requisition,  libraries  sprang 
up  in  ever}^  direction,  schools  were  planted,  and  the 
four  corners  of  the  empire  were  taken  up  by  societies 
for  the  amelioration  of  the  people.  Poetry  received 
a  fresh  impetus.  Hiltten  and  Hans  Sacli  sang  with 
fresh  vigor ;  Cranach  and  Albrecht  Dlirer  revolution- 
ized painting ;  and  more  books  were  now  printed  in 
one  year  than  had  before  issued  from  the  j^ress  in 
a  century. t  Learning  had  been  shut  up  in  the 
cells  of  the  cloister,  it  had  been  confined  in  the 
swaddling  bands  of  outward  ordinances ;  but  the 
priests  were  now  forced  to  loose  their  exclusive 
cliTtch  upon  it,  and  it  flowed  out  upon  the  people, 
humanizing  and  elevating  humanity. 

*  L.    0pp.  (W.I  X.,  535.  t  Corpus  Kef.  I.,  613. 


476  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

At  tliis  time  many  of  Luther's  brethren  married, 
and  all  had  entered  the  world  to  partake  of  its  cares 
and  its  duties,  deeming  themselves  more  bound  to 
holiness  by  the  cross  and  their  simple  faith  in  the 
gospel,  than  they  had  been  by  the  vows  which  wed- 
ded them  to  a  life  of  solitude. 

Towards  the  close  of  the  year  1524,  Luther  form- 
ed the  resolution  of  following  the  example  of  those 
whose  freedom  was  the  practical  result  of  his  spec- 
ulations. He  had  been  living  in  the  Wittemberg 
cloister,  and  still  wore  the  old  monastic  dress.  He 
now  informed  the  elector  of  his  projected  change, 
and  with  that  caution  which,  despite  his  fiery  dis- 
position, he  always  carried  into  important  actions, 
he  solicited  the  opinion  of  his  prince  in  the  matter. 
Frederick  responded  by  sending  him  a  roll  of  cloth, 
and  bidding  him  fashion  from  it  any  form  of  dress 
he  pleased.  Luther  thenceforward  rejected  both 
the  habit  and  the  title  of  a  monk,  and  quitting  the 
monastery,  he  took  suitable  apartments  near  the  imi- 
versity. "  He  was  now  known  only  by  his  academic 
distinctions,  and  having  thus  emancipated  himself 
from  most  of  the  few  remaining  trammels  of  his 
monkish  state'  he  determined  to  complete  the  work 
by  marrying.f 

In  the  convent  of  Nimptisch,  near  Grimma,  in 
Saxony,  dwelt,  in  the  year  1523,  nine  nuns  who  were 
diligent  in  reading  the  word  of  God,  and  who  had 
discovered  the  contrast  that  exists  between  a  Chris- 

*  Seckendorf,  Lib.  I.,  Sec.  182,  p.  31-i,  ed.  1G92. 
t  Stebbing,  Vol.  I.,  p.  140. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEE.  477 

tian  and  a  cloister  life.  Thej  therefore  determined 
to  quit  tlieir  convent  and  to  return  into  that  society 
which  they  had  left  under  an  erroneous  idea  of  piety. 
Despite  the  urgent  importunities  of  their  friends, 
who  feared  the  consequence  of  such  a  step,  they 
stripped  off  their  convent  gowns,  and  on  the  7tli  of 
April,  1523,  amazed  at  their  own  boldness,  stopped 
in  great  emotion  before  the  gate  of  that  old  Augus- 
tine monastery  in  which  Luther  then  resided. 

"  This  is  not  my  doing,"  said  Luther  as  he  re- 
ceived them,  "  but  would  to  God  that  I  could  thus 
rescue  all  captive  consciences,  and  empty  all  cloisters ; 
the  breach  is  made."  Many  persons  in  Wittemberg 
offered  to  receive  these  nuns  into  their  houses,  and 
one  of  them,  Catharine  Van  Bora,  Luther's  future 
wife,  found  a  welcome  in  the  family  of  the  burgo- 
master of  the  city. 

If  Luther  at  that  time  thought  of  preparing  for 
any  solemn  event,  it  was  to  ascend  the  scaffold,  not 
to  approach  the  marriage  altar.  Many  months 
after  this,  he  still  repKed  to  those  who  spoke  to  him 
of  marriage,  "  God  may  change  my  heart,  if  it  be 
his  pleasure,  but  now  at  least  I  have  no  thought  of 
taking  a  wife  :  not  that  I  do  not  feel  any  attractions 
towards  that  estate  ;  I  am  neither  a  stock  nor  a 
stone,  but  every  day  I  expect  the  death  of  a  heretic." 

But  his  aged  father,  who  had  been  so  grieved 
w^hen  he  embraced  a  monastic  life,  now  joined  his^ 
tremulous  voice  to   the  importunity  of  his  other 
friends,  and  urged  him  to  enter  the  conjugal  state. 
One  idea  above  all  was  daily  present  before  Luther's 


478  -      THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

conscience  with  increasing  energy :  marriage  is  an 
institution  of  God,  celibacy  an  institution  of  man. 
He  had  a  horror  of  any  thing  that  emanated  from 
Rome.  He  would  say  to  his  friends,  "  I  desire  to 
retain  no  pledge  of  my  papistical  slavery."  Day 
and  night  he  prayed  God  to  deliver  him  from  his 
uncertainty  in  this  matter.  At  last  a  single  thought 
broke  the  slender  link  which  yet  bound  him  captive. 
To  all  the  motives  of  propriety  and  personal  obe- 
dience which  led  him  to  apply  to  himself  this  decla- 
ration of  God,  "  It  is  not  good  that  man  should  he 
alone"^  was  added  a  motive  of  a  higher  and  more 
powerful  nature.  He  saw  that  if  he  was  called  to 
the  marriage  state  as  a  man,  he  was  also  called  to 
it  as  a  reformer.     This  decided  him. 

"  If  this  monk  should  marry,"  said  his  friend 
^cliurff,  the  lawyer,  "  he  will  make  all  the  world,  and 
the  devil  himself,  burst  with  laughter,  and  will  de- 
stroy the  work  so  grandly  begun."  This  sarcasm 
made  a  different  impression  from  the  intended  one. 
To  brave  the  world,  the  devil,  and  his  enemies,  and 
by  an  action  which  they  thought  calculated  to  ruin 
his  cause,  to  prevent  its  success  from  being  ascribed 
to  his  conduct,  this  was  what  Luther  ardently  de- 
sired. Accordingly  boldly  raising  his  head,  he 
exclaimed,  "Well,  then,  I  will  do  it :  I  will  play 
the  devil  and  the  world  this  trick  ;  I  will  content 
my  father,  and  marry  Catherine." 

Luther  had  always  kept  an  oversight  over  Cath- 
erine Bora  :  he  had  even  made  two  efforts  to  secure 

*  Genesis  2  :  13. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  479 

lier  hand  for  a  couple  of  liis  friends ;  the  attempts 
had  failed  however,  and  feeling  drawn  towards  her 
liiniself,  he  solicited  her  to  ally  herself  with  him, 
and  this  time  his  efforts  were  crowned  with  success; 
the  vestal  consented,  and  repairing  with  her  to  the 
house  of  his  friend  Amsdorflf,  on  the  11th  of  June, 
1525,  the  emancipated  monk  was  united  to  the  run- 
away nun,  by  Pomeranus,  whom  he  emphatically 
styled  the  pastor,  and  who  publicly  blessed  the 
union.  The  celebrated  painter,  Lucas  Cranach, 
and  Doctor  John  Apella  witnessed  the  marriage. 

No  sooner  was  Luther  married,  than  all  Europe 
was  disturbed.  He  was  overwhelmed  with  accusa- 
tions and  calumnies  from  every  quarter.  "  It  is  in- 
cest," cried  Henry  VIIL,  from  England  ;  "  A  monk 
has  married  a  vestal,"  said  some  ;  "Antichrist  will 
be  the  offspring  of  such  a  union,"  cried  others, 
"  for  a  prophecy  announces  that  he  will  be  born  of 
a  monk  and  a  nun."  To  this  Erasmus  rej)Ued  with 
a  sarcastic  smile,  "  If  the  prophecy  is  true,  what 
thousands  of  antichrists  must  already  exist  in  the 
world." 

But  while  Luther  was  tiius  assailed,  many  good 
and  moderate  men  undertook .  his  defence.  "  Lu- 
ther,", said  Erasmus,  "  has  taken  a  wife  from  the 
noble  family  of  Bora,  but  she  brought  him  no  dowry." 
xV  more  valuable  testimony  was  next  given  in  his  favor. 
Philip  Melancthon,  whom  this  bold  step  had  at  first 
alarmed,  said  with  that  grave,  sweet  voice,  to  Avhich 
even  his  enemies  listened  with  respect,  "  It  is  false 
and  slanderous  to  maintain  that  there  is  any  thing 


480  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

unbecoming  in  Luther's  marriage.  I  tliink  that  in 
marrying  he  must  have  done  violence  to  his  own 
wishes,  impelled  thereto  by  conscience.  A  married 
life  is  one  of  humility,  but  it  is  also  a  holy  state,  if 
there  be  any  such  in  the  world,  and  the  Scriptures 
everywhere  represent  it  as  honorable  and  desirable 
for  all  men  in  God's  eyes." 

Luther  is  said  to  have  been  troubled  at  first, 
when  he  saw  such  floods  of  contempt  poured  out 
upon  him  ;  but  Melancthon  became  more  earnest  in 
his  friendship  and  kindness,  and  it  was  not  long  ere 
the  reformer  saw  a  mark  of  God's  approbation  in 
this  bitter  opposition  of  man.  "  If  it  did  not  offend  _ 
the  world,"  said  he,  "I  should  fear  that  what  I 
have  done  is  displeasing  to  God."* 

Luther  was  happy  in  this  union.  "  The  best  gift 
of  God,"  said  he,  "  is  a  pious  and  amiable  wife  who 
fears  God,  loves  her  family,  with  whom  a  man  may 
live  in  peace,  and  in  whom  he  may  safely  confide." 
Some  months  after  his  marriage  he  informed  one  of 
his  fiiends  of  Catherine's  pregnancy;  and  a  year 
after  their  union,  she  gave  birth  to  a  son.  The 
sweets  of  domestic  life,  which  Luther  was  eminently 
suited  to  enjo}'',  soon  dispersed  the  storm  which  the 
exasperation  of  his  enemies  had  at  first  gathered 
over  him.  His  Ketha,  as  he  styled  her,  manifested 
the  tenderest  aftectiou  towards  him,  consoled  him 
in  his  dejection  by  repeating  passages  from  the 
Bible,  relieved  him  fi'om  all  household  cares,  sat 
near  him  in  his  leisure  moments,  worked  his  por- 

c  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  203-208,  passim. 


or  MAETIN   LUTHER.  481 

trait  in  embroidery,  reminded  liim  of  the  friends  to 
whom  he  had  neglected  to  write,  and  often  amused 
him  by  the  naivete  of  her  questions. 

A  certain  dignity  appears  to  have  marked  her 
character,  for  Lutlier  would  sometimes  call  her 
"  My  Lady  Ketlia."  One  day  he  said  playfully, 
that  if  he  were  to  marry  again,  he  would  carve  an 
obedient  wife  for  himself  out  of  a  block  of  marble ; 
for,  added  he,  it  is  impossible  to  find  such  a  one 
in  reality.  His  letters  to  Catherine  overflowed  with 
tenderness ;  he  called  her  his  "  dear  and  gracious 
wife,"  his  "  dear  and  amiable  Ketha." 

Luther's  disposition  lost  its  ruggedness,  and  he 
became  more  polite  and  cheerful  in  Catherine's 
society,  and  this  happy  frame  of  mind  never  after- 
wards deserted  him,  even  in  his  greatest  trials.* 

"  D'Aubime. 


21 


482  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTEK   XXXYII. 

Just  prior  to  the  occurrence  of  the  domestic 
events  last  recited,  that  wide-spread  and  desohating 
insurrection  whose  symptoms  Luther's  keen  eje 
had  detected  from  the  summit  of  the  Wartburg," 
and  which  his  prophetic  ken  foretold,  burst  forth — 
the  curtain  rose  upon  the  terrible  tragedy  of  the 
peasants'  war. 

The  serfs,  slumbering  for  ages  beneath  the 
crushing  weight  of  feudal  tyrann}^  in  a  dull,  heavy 
sleep,  had  of  late  been  awakened  by  the  frequent 
repetition  of  the  magical  word  liberty  by  learned 
men  and  wise  princes.  In  their  ignorance  they 
mistook  the  religious  emancipation  which  the  Kef- 
ormation  inaugurated  for  political  enfi'anchisement. 
Their  forefathers  had  left  them  a  heritage  of  servi- 
tude, and  the  weight  of  the  yoke  had  increased  with 
each  succeeding  generation.  The  fruit  of  their  toil 
was  filched  from  them,  and  wasted  in  the  riotous 
luxury  of  ungrateful  nobles,  and  that  this  spoliation 
might  be  carried  on  with  greater  security,  the  gates 
of  knowledge  were  locked  and  double-barred  against 
them,  that  they  might  have  no  access  to  those 
sources  of  information  which  exercise  and  develop 
the  faculties.  An  eternal,  uninterrupted,  awful 
night  gloomed  over  them. 

In  its  inception,  the  insurrection  was  meant 
*  Chap.  XXXIV.,  p.  450. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  483 

only  to  remedy  these  evils  no  longer  supportable. 
Tramping  forth  from  the  remotest  corners  of  Bel- 
gium  to  the  furthest  boundaries  of  Germany,  came 
the  infuriated  multitudes,  making  kings,  princes, 
and  mitred  bishops  tremble,  but  claiming  at  this 
time,  before  they  were  bewildered  by  the  subtle 
appeals  of  enthusiasts,  intoxicated  by  success,  and 
blinded  b}'  rage,  only  what  was  just  and  fitting. 

The  protest  of  the  poor  peasants  of  Suabia,  in  its 
barbarian  simplicity,  will  always  remain  as  a  mon- 
ument of  courageous  insurrectionary  moderation. 
They  divided  their  grievances  under  twelve  heads  ;* 
claiming  first  the  right  to  choose  their  own  religious 
teachers,  such  as  should  teach  them  the  pure  Avord, 
unpolluted  by  human  traditions.  And  this  was  a 
manifest  declaration  in  favor  of  the  Reformation. 
Second,  the  abolition  of  tithes,  which  were  felt  to  be 
peculiarly  oppressive  by  the  poor  tillers  of  the  soil, 
for  which  they  asserted  that  there  was  no  authority, 
save  the  abrogated  law  of  the  Old  Testament.  But 
if  the  seigneurs  did  not  see  fit  to  grant  tliis,  they 
prayed  that  the  revenue  collected  from  this  source 
might  be  more  fairly  apportioned,  and  that  a  por- 
tion of  it  might  go  towards  the  support  of  their 
pastors  and  towards  the  relief  of  the  poor.f 

In  the  succeeding  articles,  they  contended  for 
the  rank  of  freemen,  for  the  restoration  of  certain 
rights  belonging  by  custom  to  tillers  of  the  soil,  for 
liberty  to  hunt  and  fish  in  the  open  plains,  forests, 
and  rivers  of  the  country,  for  exemption  from  heavy 
«  Sleidan-  f  Beau.sobre. 


484  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

taxes,  and  for  tlie  abolition  of  laws  which  were  par- 
tial and  unjust.  They  concluded  this  remarkable 
political  manifesto  by  expressing  their  willingness 
to  withdraw  their  petition,  should  it,  or  any  part  of 
it,  be  shown  by  Scripture  to  be  unlawful,  and  by 
appealing  to  Luther  to  arbitrate  between  them  and 
their  oppressors.* 

Thus  called  upon,  Luther  did  not  refuse  this 
critical  office  of  arbiter.  He  was  himself  sprung 
from  the  people,  he  had  a  heart  to  sympathize  with 
their  Avoes,  he  was  acquainted  with  their  wants  ;  yet 
he  knew  well  that,  under  the  circumstances,  insur- 
rection was  madness ;  that  these  unarmed,  undis- 
ciplined, unorganized  masses  would  be  butchered 
with  relentless  fury  by  their  mailed  lords ;  that  the 
rebellion  must  inevitably,  after  expending  its  fury 
and  desolating  the  empire,  be  choked  in  blood. 
The  revolution  was  a  Samson,  but  it  was  a  blind 
Samson ;  it  could  not  stand  an  hour  before  the 
trained  LanzJcnecJds.  He  ardently  desired  therefore 
to  save  these  poor  rebels  from  inevitable  defeat  and 
slaughter ;  he  feared  also  that  their  violence  might 
compromise  the  Reformation.  Yet  he  wished  to 
clutch  for  them,  from  the  iron  grasp  of  the  nobles, 
every  right  he  could. 

In  his  reply  to  the  twelve  articles  of  the  insur- 
gents, he  constituted  himself  judge  between  the 
princes  and  the  people ;  he  told  both  sides  some 
grand  truths,  and  at  no  crisis  of  his  life  did  he  as- 
sume a  position  more  elevated  or  more  commanding. 
"~  Beausobre,  Sleidau. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  485 

He  first  addressed  himself  to  the  princes,  cas- 
tigating them  for  their  selfishness  and  oppres- 
sion with  merited  severity  :  "  It  is  quite  clear,"  he 
wrote,  "  that  you  have  no  one  on  earth  to  thank  for 
all  this  disorder  but  yourselves,  princes  and  lords, 
and  you  especially,  blind  bishops,  insane  priests, 
and  monks,  who,  even  to  this  very  day,  hardened  in 
your  perversity,  cease  not  to  clamor  against  the 
holy  gospel ;  at  the  same  time,  in  your  capacity  as 
secular  authorities,  you  manifest  yourselves  the 
extortioners  and  spoilers  of  the  poor,  you  sacrifice 
every  thing  and  everybody  to  your  monstrous  lux- 
ury, to  your  outrageous  pride,  and  you  have  con- 
tinued to  do  this  until  the  outraged  people  neither 
can  nor  will  endure  you  longer.  With  the  sword 
already  at  your  throat,  your  mad  presumption  in- 
duces you  to  imagine  yourselves  so  firmly  seated 
in  the  saddle  that  you  cannot  be  thrown  off.  I 
have  many  a  time  exhorted  you  to  beware  lest  the 
verse  of  the  psalmist,  He  poureili  contempt  iipon 
iwinccs,  become  applicable  to  you.  Thus  far  all 
your  efforts  have  tended  to  the  accomplishment  of 
these  words  in  your  persons ;  you  seem  determined 
that  this  peasant  club  raised  over  you  slMU  fall  and 
crush  you.  Let  me  implore  you  to  listen  to  counsel 
ere  it  be  too  late,  and  our  dear  German  sods  are 
soaked  in  blood." 

After  considerable  more  to  this  same  effect,  Lu- 
ther passes  to  a  consideration  of  the  justice  of  the 
demands  of  the  insurgents  : 

"  As  to  the  first  article,  you  cannot  refuse  them 


486  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

the  free  election  of  their  pastors;  tliey  desire  that 
these  pastors  should  preach  the  gospel  to  them. 
Authority  may  not  interpose  any  prohibition  uj)on 
this,  seeing  indeed  that  of  right  it  should  permit 
each  man  to  teach  and  to  believe  that  which  to  him 
seems  good  and  fitting,  whether  it  be  gospel  or 
whether  it  be  false.  All  that  authority  is  compe- 
tent to  prohibit,  is  the  preaching  of  disorder  and 
revolt. 

"  The  articles  having  reference  to  the  physical 
condition  of  the  peasants,  the  fines  and  payments, 
the  exaction  of  illegal  services,  and  others,  are 
equall}^  just,  for  authority  was  not  instituted  for  its 
own  aggrandizement,  nor  to  make  use  of  its  subjects 
for  the  accomplishment  of  its  own  caprices  and  ill- 
passions,  but  for  the  interest  and  advantage  of  the 
peDple.  Now  the  people  haA-e  become  fully  im- 
pressed with  this  fact,  and,  being  impressed  with  it, 
they  submit  no  longer  to  your  crying  extortions  and 
tyrannies.  Of  what  benefit  were  it  to  a  peasant 
that  his  field  should  produce  as  many  florins  as  it 
produces  grains  of  corn  if  his  lord  may  despoil  him 
of  the  produce,  and  lavish  like  dirt  the  money  un- 
justly derived  from  the  vassal  in  fine  clothes,  fine 
castles,  fine  eating,  and  fine  drinking  ?  "What  a'OU 
should  do  first  and  foremost  is  to  put  a  stop  to 
all  this  vain  luxury  of  yours,  to  close  up  the  holes 
through  which  this  money  runs,  so  that  you  may 
leave  some  little  matter  in  the  peasant's  pocket."* 

Then  turning  to  the  peasants,  the  statesman-like 
-  L.  Werke,  II.,  36. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEK.  487 

monk  exliorts  tliem  in  strains  of  equal  wisdom,  con- 
cedes the  justice  of  many  of  their  demands,  con- 
jures them  not  to  sully  their  cause  by  violence, 
counsels  patience,  informs  them  that  civilization 
must  ere  long  melt  off  their  shackles,  points  out  to 
them  the  mad  folly  of  insurrection,  and  the  cer- 
tainty of  its  suppression,  with  the  inevitable  loss  of 
the  few  privileges  they  then  enjoyed.* 

But  all  was  in  vain.  The  wise  counsels  of  the 
father  of  the  Reformation  whistled  over  the  heads 
of  the  infuriated  and  now  demonized  insurgents,  as 
passed  the  idle  wind,  unheeded,  unheard.  The  in- 
surrection had  now  lost  that  fine  moderation  which 
distinguished  its  early  phases.  Ambitious  dema- 
gogues and  heated  enthusiasts  had  seized  upon  it,  and 
the  frenzied  peasants  rushed  with  blind,  indiscrim- 
inate fury  to  their  carnival  of  death.  Suabia,  Thu- 
ringia,  Alsace,  the  whole  western  end  of  the  empire, 
heaved  in  insurrection.  Each  day  the  insurgents 
were  joined  by  new  forces ;  cities  and  the  strongest 
fortified  castles  opened  their  gates  on  their  ap- 
proach ;  throughout  Ehinegau  and  Bavaria  the 
revolution  became  as  successful  as  it  was  general ; 
a  host  of  apocalyptic  visionaries  put  themselves  in 
motion ;  the  insurrection  quitted  the  domain  of 
politics  for  that  of  religious  fanaticism  ;  as  at  first 
the  rallying  word  had  been  equal  rights,  it  now  be- 
come the  necessit}^  of  a  "  second  baptism. "t  Like 
that  of  the  French  Jacquerie,  it  became  a  war  against 
property,  and  it  thus  robbed  the  poor  man ;  a  war 
■•-*  Beaiisobre.  f  Beausobre,  Miclielet. 


488  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

against  science,  and  it  tlms  broke  up  all  natural 
equality — a  war  against  all  order,  and  it  held  that 
God  revealed  every  thing  to  his  saints,  and  that  all 
books,  pictures,  statues,  were  inventions  of  Satan.* 

A  fanatic  named  Thomas  Munzer,  perhaps  hon- 
estly lieated  in-  the  cause,  and  a  priest  named 
Pfeifer,  were  the  preachers  of  the  crusade. t  Like 
Attila  of  old,  these  zealots  left  behind  them  nothing 
but  desolation.  Treasure,  cities,  lives  were  thrown 
relentlessly  into  the  greedy  maw  of  the  insurrec- 
tion. 

The  reformers  looked  upon  this  picture  with 
dismay,  Luther  was  too  good  a  citizen  to  regard 
this  butchery  with  any  feeling  but  disgust,  and  he 
united  with  Melancthon  in  urging  the  princes  to 
take  the  field  against  the  maddened  peasants.]; 

At  length  the  princes  shook  off  the  fatal  lethargy 
which  at  first  had  bound  them,  and  giving  the  lead- 
ership of  their  allied  forces  to  Philip,  landgrave  of 
Hesse,  essayed  to  breast  the  torrent  of  destruc- 
tion. 

Philip  came  upon  the  insurgents  at  Franken- 
hausen,  and  ere  ordering  the  charge,  he  said,  "I 
will  not  assert  that  ■\ve  princes  are  free  from  blame 
in  this  matter  ;  but  though  we  have  been  guilty  of 
injustice,  this  will  not  excuse  those  who  fall  into  the 
sin  of  hopeless  rebellion,  violating  at  once  the  laws 
and  their  oaths  ;"§  then  sounding  the  attack,  the 
insurgents  were  speedily  routed  with  awful  slaugh- 

'^  Sleidan.  t  Seckendorf,  Lib.  II.,  Sec.  IV. 

X  Briese.  §  Sleidan. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  489 

ter.  Munzer  and  Pfeifer  were  seized,  and  sliortly 
after  beheaded ;  and  after  raging  for  ten  months — 
from  July,  1524,  to  the  15tli  ^f  May,  1525,  the  date 
of  the  battle  of  Frankenhausen — this  ill-starred  in- 
surrection ended,  as  Luther  had  predicted  that  it 
must,  in  the  blood  of  the  peasants ;  their  chains 
were  riveted  still  tighter,  and  what  was  termed  "the 
public  tranquillity"  was  again  restored. 

Luther  had  been  deeply  pained  by  these  tragical 
events.  They  made  a  lasting  impression  upon  his 
feelings.  Now  terminated  the  revolution  in  his 
mind  which  had  commenced  at  the  period  of  his 
return  from  the  Wartburg.  The  inner  life  no  lon- 
ger satisfied  him ;  the  church  and  her  exterior  in- 
stitutions became  most  important  in  his  eyes.  The 
boldness  with  which  he  had  thrown  down  every 
thing,  was  checked  at  the  sight  of  still  more  sweep- 
ing destructions ;  he  felt  it  to  be  his  duty  to  perse- 
vere, to  organize,  to  build  up :  from  the  midst  of 
the  blood-stained  ruins  with  which  the  peasants' 
war  had  covered  Germany,  the  edifice  of  the  re- 
formed church  began  slowly  to  arise." 

On  the  5th  of  May,  1525,  in  the  midst  of  these 
sad  events,  and  while  the  army  of  the  princes  was 
marching  to  quell  the  insurrection,  the  elector 
Frederick,  broken  by  disease,  and  worn  by  grief, 
died,  and  Germany  was  thus  deprived  of  her  most 
sagacious  ruler,  while  the  Reformation  lost  its 
earliest  and  most  powerful  protector,  apparently  at 
tlie  most  inauspicious  moment. 

*  D'Aubigne,  Vol.  II.,  ]).  198. 
21* 


490  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Frederick  possessed  neither  brilliant  genius,  nor 
the  more  glittering  qualities  of  a  statesman  and 
sovereign.  But  good  ^ense,  experience,  prudence, 
foresight,  and  iron  firmness,  appeared  in  the  whole 
system  of  his  policy.  He  always  acted  as  it  is  best 
for  a  prince  to  act,  not  with  an  ambitious  aim  to 
dis2:)lay  his  own  virtues  and  piety,  but  in  the  man- 
ner which  he  thought  most  likely  to  secure  the  gen- 
eral and  permanent  interests  of  religious  civiliza- 
tion. It.  was  not  his  disposition  to  make  great  and 
sudden  sacrifices,  but  to  follow  with  steady,  resolute, 
yet  almost  silent  step  the  signals  of  the  Deity.  In 
his  personal  conduct,  the  benignity  of  his  disposi- 
tion diffused  a  grace  over  all  his  actions,  and  the 
paternal  attributes  of  sovereignty  mingled  in  his 
character  with  the  mildest  virtues  of  friendship  and 
domestic  piety.  For  these  reasons  Frederick  de- 
serves to  be  remembered  by  all  good  men  with  pro- 
found respect."" 

His  brother  John  Frederick  succeeded  to  the 
electoral  dignity,  a  prince  whose  gentle  vigor,  whose 
progressive  tendencies,  and  whose  executive  ability 
made  him  Frederick's  fitting  successor,  and  a  jiroper 
sovereign  to  carry  on  to  completion  the  work  so 
auspiciously  begun. 

Luther  was  profoundly  grieved  by  the  death  of 
the  good  elector.  He  was  saddened  both  on  his 
own  account,  for  the  prince  had  been  a  true  and 
thoughtful  friend  to  him,  and  on  account  of.  his 
august  cause.  The  powers  of  the  empire  now 
■~-  Stebbing,  Vol.  I.,  pp.  153,  154. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  491 

seemed  combined  against  the  Eeformation.  The 
lioman  league  of  Katisbon,  triumphant  against  the 
peasants  in  the  west,  and  reinforced  by  the  adhe- 
sion of  other  princes  in  the  south,  seemed  now 
about  to  swoop  upon  the  unprotected  reformers. 
Charles  V.  had  recently  written  a  letter  from  Toledo 
in  which  he  had  ordered  another  diet  to  be  con- 
voked ere  long  at  Augsburg,  and  the  haughty  con- 
queror at  Pavia  had  expressed  a  determination  to 
hunt  the  German  heretics  into  their  holes.*  And 
now,  by  Frederick's  death,  the  sole  breakwater 
seemed  removed,  and  Luther  imagined  that  he 
could  already  feel  the  raging  torrent  closing  about 
him  and  swallowing  him  up. 

But  still  the  undaunted  monk  "Joated  no  jot  of 
heart  or  hope."  Standing  beside  the  corpse  of 
Frederick,  that  was  scarcely  cold,  and  the  dead 
bodies  of  the  peasants  that  yet  strewed  the  German 
plains,  he  pledged  himself  with  fresh  enthusiasm 
never  to  abandon  his  work,  and  repeated  with  fiery 
faith,  "  Christ  reigns  in  tlie  mjdst  of  his  enemies  ;  in 
vain  do  they  gnash  their  teeth,  their  desire  shall 
perisli."t 

The  many  exciting  and  engrossing  events  which 
had  occurred  since  the  publication  of  the  "  Dia- 
tribe'''' of  Erasmus  in  1524,:);  combined  to  postpone 
Luther's  reply  much  longer  than  he  had  at  first  in- 
tended, so  that  it  was  not  until  towards  the  close  of 
this  momentous  year  of  1525  that  the  answer  De 

■»  Eobertson's  Hist,  of  Charles  V.  f  L  Epp.  III.,  22. 

\  See  chap.  XXXVI. 


492  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

Servo  Arbitrio  was  published.  What  his  work  lost 
in  lack  of  spontaneity,  it  gained  in  calmness  of  state- 
ment and  philosophical  strength. 

Erasmus  belonged  to  that  class  of  thinkers  who 
maintain  that  good  j)roceeds  frcm  man  himself ;  and 
though  in  his  treatise  on  freewill  he  had  not  ven- 
tured openly  to  take  that  ground,  he  had  yet  covertly 
done  so,  and  his  arguments  meant  that  or  nothing. 

Luther  believed  that  every  good  thing  in  man 
came  down  from  God  through  grace;  and  concern- 
ing the  freedom  of  the  will,  he  made  this  fine  dis- 
tinction: "Man's  will  may  be  called  a  free  will,  not 
in  relation  to  that  which  is  above  him,  that  is  to 
say,  God,  but  with  respect  to  what  is  below,  that  is, 
to  the  things  of  the  earth.  As  regards  my  property, 
my  fields,  my  houses,  my  farm,  I  may  act  my  pleas- 
ure freely ;  but  in  the  things  of  salvation,  man  is  a 
captive,  he  is  subject  to  the  will  of  God.""  He  then 
proceeded  with  that  remarkable  coi:)iousness  of  bib- 
lical quotation,  of  which  he  was  one  of  the  greatest 
of  masters,  to  prove  liisi  doctrine  that  grace  did  every 
thing. 

As  illustrating  the  effect  which  Luther's  pam- 
phlet had  upon  Erasmus  personally,  it  may  be 
stated  that,  despite  its  remarkable  freedom  from 
invective,  and  his  candor  of  statement,  it  yet  cut  the 
philosophic  Hollander  so  deeply  that,  to  borrow  the 
language  of  one  of  his  panegyrists,  "He  began  to 
pour  forth  invectives  with  a  broken  voice  and  hoary 
haii-."t 

-  L.  Opp.  XIX.,  27.  t  M.  Nisiiid,  Erasmus,  p.  417. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  493 


t 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

The  two  or  three  years  which  succeeded  the 
eventful  era  of  1525  were  not  marked  by  the  occur- 
rence of  any  thing  of  sjjecial  pubHc  significance. 
They  seem  to  have  been  enjoyed  quietly  by  Luther, 
seated  at  his  own  hearthstone  with  his  dear  Ketha 
by  his  side.  The  great  reformer  never  appears  to 
better  advantage  than  when  viewed  from  this  do- 
mestic standpoint ;  his  affectionate  dispositioii,  his 
joviality,  his  humor,  all  combined  to  make  him  a 
model  husband  and  father. 

Strangely  enough,  considering  the  immense  sale 
which  his  writings  had,  and  the  prominent  figure 
which  he  made  in  Europe — so  that  it  may  almost 
be  said  that  his  biography  is  a  history  of  his  age — 
Luther  was  at  this  time  plunged  into  the  saddest 
poverty.  His  income  had  never  exceeded  two  hun- 
dred Misnian  florins.'"'  Owing  to  a  singular  con- 
scientious whim,  he  could  not  be  persuaded  to  ac- 
cept any  money  for  his  manuscripts,  though  his 
bookseller  is  said  to  have  offered  him  an  annual 
stipend  of  four  hundred  florins  for  Avhatever  he 
might  wiiite  from  twelvemonth  to  twelvemonth,  be 
it  less  or  more.h 

He  derived  no  stated  income  from  his  connection 

with  the  university,  but  relied  upon  the  generosity 

*  Meiirer,  Michelet.     About  $108. 
t  Michelet,  p.  201,  note. 


494  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

of  the  elector,  wliicli  it  must  be  confessed  was  not 
of  sucli  a  nature  as  to  make  him  desire  to  change, 
at  leasi  in  this  respect,  the  serij)tural  command- 
ment. Put  not  your  trust  in  princes.  On  more  than 
one  occasion  Luther  was  obliged  to  remind  the 
parsimonious  elector  of  his  pecuniary  destitution, 
and  to  solicit  a  donation.  "" 

Writing  in  February,  1527,  to  a  friend  who  had 
requested  a  loan  of  him,  he  said,  "  You  ask  me  for 
eight  Horins.  Where  on  earth  am  I  to  get  eight 
florins  ?  As  you  know,  I  am  compelled  to  live  with 
the  strictest  economy ;  and  yet  my  want  of  means, 
perhaps  my  want  of  care,  has  necessitated  me  to 
contract,  during  the  past  year,  debts  amounting  to 
more  than  a  hundred  florins,  which  I  must  some- 
how and  some  time  repay  to  various  persons.  I 
have  even  been  obliged  to  pawn  three  goblets,  pres- 
ents from  different  people,  for  fifty  florins,  and  ab- 
solutely to  sell  one  for  twelve.  Neither  Lucas  nor 
Christian  will  any  longer  accept  me  as  security,  for 
they  have  found  that  by  doing  so  they  either  lose 
their  monej'  or  my  jDOor  purse  is  drained  of  its  last 
penny." 

A  little  later  in  the  same  year  he  wrote,  "  Tell 
Nicholas  Endrissus  to  send  to  me  for  some  copies 
of  my  works.  I  have  retained  certain  claims  upon 
my  publishers  in  this  respect,  which  is  just,  seeing 
that,  poor  as  I  am,  I  get  from  them  no  money  for 
my  labor,  nor  any  return  save  an  occasional  copy 
or  two  of  my  own  productions.     This  is  not  too 

*  Seckendorf. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEK.  495 

much  to  expect,  I  should  sa}^  since  other  writers, 
and  even  translators,  receive  a  ducat  a  sheet  for 
their  manuscript." 

Indeed  the  pinched  state  of  Luther's  exchequer 
actually  obliged  him  to  have  recourse  to  a  manual 
occupation  in  order  to  win  his  bread.* 

As  a  matter  of  choice,  he  would  doubtless  have 
selected  one  of  the  arts  he  so  loved,  that  of  Cranach 
and  Albrecht  Diirer,  or  music,  which  he  was  wont 
to  call  the  first  science  after  theology;  but  unpro- 
vided with  a  master  to  teach  him  either  of  these,  he 
became  a  turner  and  a  gardener  alternately.  "If 
the  world  will  not  support  us  for  the  sake  of  the 
word,  let  us  learn  to  support  ourselves  by  the  labor 
of  our  own  hands,"  said  the  indomitable  monk.  At 
another  time  he  remarked,  "  Since  among  us  barba- 
rians there  is  no  man  of  art  to  instruct  us  in  better 
things,  I  and  my  servant  Wolfgang  have  set  our- 
selves to  turning  in  our  leisure  moments." 

Yet  despite  the  manifold  vexations  of  abject 
poverty,  of  that  poverty  which  pinches  and  gnaws, 
Luther  was  happy — happ}'  in  his  faith,  happy  in 
his  family.  AVriting,  a  year  or  two  after  his  mar- 
riage, to  his  friend  Sliepel,  he  said,  "  Catharine,  my 
dear  rib,  salutes  thee.  She  is  quite  well,  thank 
God ;  gentle,  obedient,  and  kind  in  all  things,  far 
beyond  my  hopes.  I  would  not  exchange  my  pov- 
erty with  her  for  all  the  riches  of  Croesus  without 
her." 

Mention  has  already  been  made  of  the  son  that 

*  Mycouius,  MicbfU-t. 


496  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

had  been  born  to  liim,*  his  little  John,  as  the  boy- 
was  named  after  his  grandfather.  In  November, 
1527,  the  poor  little  fellow  was  attacked  by  the 
plague,  which  had  made  its  appearance  in  Saxony, 
and  was  then  raging  in  its  most  virulent  form.  Al- 
though little  John  descended  into  "  the  valley  of 
the  shadow  of  death,"  he  was  yet  spared  to  his 
parents.  *'  My  little  favorite  John  does  not  salute 
thee,"  wrote  he  on  the  fourth  of  November  to  Spa- 
latin,  "  for  he  is  still  too  ill  to  speak  ;  but  through  me 
he  solicits  your  prayers.  For  the  last  twelve  days 
he  has  not  eaten  a  morsel.  'Tis  wonderful  to  see 
how  the  poor  child  keeps  up  his  spirits;  he  would 
manifestly  be  as  gay  and  joj'ous  as  ever,  were  it  not 
for  the  excess  of  his  physical  weakness.  However 
the  crisis  of  his  disease  is  now  past."t 

Two  women,  Hannah  and  Margaret  Mochime, 
who  were  on  a  visit  at  his  house,  were  attacked  by 
the  pestilence  at  the  same  time.  It  also  appears 
that  on  the  death  of  the  wife  of  a  friend  by  the 
dread  disease,  every  one  was  so  afraid  to  come  near 
the  infected  family,  that  Luther  took  him  in.  "  Ev- 
erybody," wrote  he,  "  seemed  to  be  afi-aid  to  have 
any  intercourse  with  the  poor  fellow;  so  we  took 
him  and  his  children  into  our  house."'  Under  these 
circumstances  he  might  truly  write  Amsdorff,  "  My 
house  has  become  a  regular  hospital.:}: 

Towards  the  close  of  this  year,  1527,  Luther  was 
himself  attacked  with  severe  illness,  both  of  body  and 

*  Chap.  XXXVI. ,  p.  480. 

t  Luther's  Wcrkc,  IX.,  238.  "     •  t  Ibid. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  497 

mind.  Two  of  Lis  intimate  friends,  Dr.  Jonas  and 
John  Bugenliagen,  liave  left  us  an  account  of  an 
alarming  swoon  into  w4iicli  he  fell  in  the  early  days 
of  November.  "  On  Saturday,  in  the  afternoon, 
Doctor  Luther  complained  of  a  violent  buzzing  in 
the  ear,  and  of  great  pain  in  tlie  head.  Early  the 
next  morning,  fearing  that  death  approached,  he 
sent  for  Dr.  Bugenliagen,  To  him  he  spoke  of  the 
temptations  wdiich  he  had  undergone  of  late,  en-r 
treating  his  support  and  prayers ;  and  he  concluded 
by  saying,  '  Because  I  habitually  w^ear  a  joyous 
aspect,  many  people  fancy  that  my  path  is  one  of 
roses.  God  knows  how  different  is  the  fact.  God 
knows  what  is  often  in  my  heart.  I  have  often  de- 
termined within  myself,  for  the  public  advantage, 
to  assume  a  more  austere  exterior;  but  this  Christ 
has  not  enabled  me  to  do.' 

"  In  the  afternoon  of  the  same  day  he  fell  sud- 
denly quite  senseless  to  the  floor,  became  cold,  and 
gave  no  sign  of  life.  When  by  the  zealous  care  lav- 
ished upon  him  he  was  restored  to  himself,  and  rea- 
soii  became  clothed  and  in  her  right  mind,  he  be- 
gan to  pray  with  much  fervor.  By  and  by,  when 
through  dint  of  constant  friction  the  circulation  "was 
more  fully  restored,  he  turned  to  his  wife  and  said 
feebly,  '  Dear  Ketha,  where  is  my  little  darling,  my 
little  John?'  The  child,  when  brought  to  him, 
smiled  upon  its  father,  w'ho  with  tears  in  his  eyes 
sobbed  forth,  '  My  poor,  dear  little  boy,  I  commend 
thee  heartily  to  our  Lord  God,  thou  and  thy  good 
mother,  ni}^  beloved  Catherine.     I  leave  you  noth- 


498  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

ing;  but  God,  wlio  feeds  the  ravens,  will  care  for 
you — lie  who  is  the  father  of  widows  and  orphans. 
Preserve  them.  Oh  Go(J;  teach  them,  as  thou  hast 
preserved  and  taught  me." 

He  then  said  a  few  words  to  his  wife,  who  never 
left  his  side,  about  some  silver  goblets,  adding, 
"  Thou  knowest  they  are  all  we  possess." 

He  then  fell  asleep,  and  the  slumber  proving 
long  and  deep,  restored  him  so  much  strength,  that 
the  nest  day  he  found  himself  much  better. 

" '  I  shall  never  forget  the  day  I  sjoent  yester- 
day,' he  observed  to  Dr.  Jonas.  '  The  Lord  leads 
man  to  the  brink  of  hell,  and  then  withdraws  him 
from  its  wide  jaws.  The  tempest  which  yesterday 
morning  swept  over  my  soul  was  infinitely  more  ter- 
rible than  that  which  in  the  evening  assailed  my 
body.  God  kills  and  revives  us.  He  is  the  Master 
of  life  and  death.'  " - 

This,  and  several  other  similar  attacks,  were 
undoubtedly  superinduced  by  the  terrific  strain, 
both  of  body  and  mind,  which  Luther  had  been 
called  to  endure  now  for  many  years.  Even  the 
splendid  physique  which  he  had  inherited  could 
not  endure  unshaken  those  awful  asceticisms  of  his 
early  cloister,  those  stormy  excitements  of  his  mid- 
dle age,  those  fierce  abandonments  to  impulse  and 
passion  which  occasionally  shook  him  like  an  aspen. 
The  bent  bow  cracked  ominously  at  times,  and  Lu- 
ther's affrighted  friends  united  in  urging  him  to 
avoid  for  a  little  all  undue  intellectual  tension. 
*  Weike,  IX.,  254. 


OF  MAKTIN  LUTHER.  499 

In  the  early  months  of  1528,  Ketha  gave  Luther 
a  daughter;  but  his  cup  of  joy  was  shortly  dashed: 
the  infant  lingered  but  a  few  months,  and  on  the 
fifth  of  August  Luther  wrote  a  friend,  "My  little 
rosebud  daughter  Elizabeth  is  dead  ;  't  is  wonderful 
how  sick  at  heart  her  loss  has  made  me;  I  feel  a 
mere  woman,  so  great  is  the  agitation  that  has  since 
pervaded  me.  I  could  never  have  dreamed  that  a 
man's  soul  could  be  flooded  with  such  tenderness 
even  towards  his  child." 

In  Germany,  hospitality  is  at  once  an  instinct 
and  a  duty.  Like  that  khan  in  the  Eastern  story 
whose  gates  stood  ever  open  night  and  day,  so  that 
whether  king  came  or  beggar,  all  found  a  royal  wel- 
come, and  when  no  traveller  passed,  the  wind  sang 
sweetly  in  the  doorway,  Luther  was  never  happier, 
never  made  a  finer  figure,  than  when,  seated  at  his 
table,  surrounded  by  his  family  and  his  friends,  he 
played  his  flute  and  sang  his  chants,  dispensed  his 
generous  hospitalit}',  and  uttered  those  memorable 
sayings,  upon  all  imaginable  topics,  which  have 
been  grouped  in  the  "  Table  Talk." 

Let  us  too  draw  up  into  the  listening  circle  of 
his  intimate  associates,  and  heed  his  wise  words. 

Respecting  marriage,  Luther  was  wont  to  say, 
"  The  utmost  blessing  that  God  can  confer  on  man, 
is  the  possession  of  a  good  and  pious  wife,  with 
whom  he  may  live  in  peace  and  tranquillity ;  to 
whom  he  can  confide  his  whole  possessions,  even 
his  life  and  welfare.  Catherine,  thou  hast  a  loving 
husband,  and  thou — thou  art  an  empress.     To  rise 


500  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

betimes,  and  to  many  young,  are  what  no  man  ever 
repents  of  doing. ""'^ 

Some  one  was  once  justifying  a  man  who  was 
accustomed  to  associate  with  loose  women,  when 
Luther  observed,  "He  ought  to  know  that  he  shows 
an  utter  contempt  for  the  whole  female  sex  in  what 
he  does.  It  is  an  impious  abuse  of  woman,  who 
was  not  created  for  such  purposes.  When  I  was  at 
school,  my  good  hostess  at  Eisenach  had  a  good 
saying :  '  There  is  nothing  on  earth  so  sweet  and 
consoling  as  the  love  of  a  woman.'  " 

"  The  Trinity,"  said  Luther  one  day,  "  is  dis- 
cernable  throughout  all  creation.  In  the  sun  there 
coexist  body,  brilliancy,  and  heat;  in  rivers,  body, 
current,  and  strength ;  the  same  is  true  of  the  arts 
and  sciences.  In  astronomy  there  are  motion,  light, 
and  attraction ;  in  music,  the  three  notes  re,  me, 
fa,  and  so  on.  The  schoolmen  have  neglected  these 
important  signs  for  empty  frivolities."t 

St.  Augustine  was  represented,  in  a  book  that 
Luther  once  saw,  habited  in  a  monk's  gown.  On 
looking  at  the  picture  he  observed,  "  The  painter 
wronged  the  holy  father,  for  he  led  an  ordinary  life 
like  the  rest  of  his  countrj'men.  He  did  not  live 
apart  like  a  monk."  Having  delivered  his  opinion 
of  Augustine,  he  added,  "  But  since  I  became,  by 
the  grace  of  God,  capable  of  understanding  St.  Paul, 
I  have  been  unable  to  esteem  any  of  these  doctors ; 
they  have  shrunk  into  insignificance  in  my  estima- 
tion.":}: 

*  Table  Talk.  t  Tisclireden,  49.  t  I^itl-  207. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  •         501 

"Antichrist,"  said  Luther,  "is  at  once  typified 
in  the  pope  and  the  Turk.  The  pope  is  the  soul, 
the  Turk  is  the  flesh."  "  Others,"  he  added,  "  have 
attacked  the  mansions  of  the  popes,  as  did  Erasmus 
and  Huss,  but  I  levelled  the  two  pillars  upon  which 
popery  rests,  namely,  vows  and  private  masses.""'^ 

Luther  bore  this  testimony  to  painting,  when 
introducing  to  his  friend  i^msdorff  a  young  artist 
named  Sebastian:  "I  do  not  know  whether  you 
have  need  of  him  according  to  your  own  notions; 
but  I  confess  that  J  should  like  to  see  your  house 
better  decorated,  more  elegant  in  its  details,  if  only 
to  please  the  senses,  which  require  gratifications  of 
this  innocent  and  tranquil  nature  to  develop  them 
to  full  perfection."t 

Luther  was  one  day  descanting  upon  the  genius 
and  skill  of  the  Italian  painters.  "  They  imitate 
nature  so  perfectly,"  said  he,  "  independently  of  the 
exact  color  and  form  of  the  object  designed,  they  give 
such  admirable  expression  to  the  most  subtle  shades 
of  thought,  that  the  pictures  live  and  breathe.  Flan- 
ders follows  close  upon  Italy  in  this  art.  The  Flem- 
ings are  a  very  sharp  people  ;  they  learn  with  simi- 
lar facility  all  the  foreign  languages.  'T  is  a  prov- 
erb, you  know,  '  Carry  a  Fleming  in  a  bag  through 
Italy  or  France,  and  he  will  know  the  language  be- 
fore he 's  got  a  hundred  miles.'  "| 

"  The  establishment  of  schools,"  said  Luther 
once  with  great  earnestness,  "  is  one  of  the  most 

*  Tiscbreden,  103.  f  Table  TaUv,  281. 

X  Michelet,  Appendix,  CVIII. 


502         •         THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

important  duties  wliicli  the  magistrate  has  to  per- 
form. Private  tuition  is  quite  insufficient.  Schools 
are  the  cradles  of  great  states,  and  they  ought  to  be 
confided  to  none  but  the  most  fit,  judicious,  and 
learned  men.  It  will  be  an  evil  day  for  Germany 
when  she  permits  her  schools  to  decay.  Popery 
hates  popular  education,  and  turns  the  key  of  her 
massive  dungeon  upon  it.  Where  the  liberal  arts 
are  cultivated,  her  baleful  light  is  quenched  in  a 
more  dazzling  effulgence."^ 

On  one  occasion  Luther  wrote  to  Ludwig  Sien- 
pel,  one  of  the  musicians  to  the  popish  court  of 
Bavaria,  soliciting  him  to  set  to  music  for  him  some 
verses  which  he  had  composed.  "  The  love  of  mu- 
sic," he  said,  "  has  enabled  me  to  surmount  the  fear 
of  being  repulsed  when  you  see  at  the  foot  of  this 
request  a  name  which  is  doubtless  odious  to  you. 
The  same  love  for,  the  same  faith  in  music  which 
inspires  you,  inspires  me  to  hope  that  my  corre- 
spondence will  not  involve  you  in  any  trouble  or 
annoyance.  The  Turk  himself  could  not  make  the 
receipt  of  a  letter  upon  such  a  subject  matter  of 
reproach  against  you.  Except  theology,  there  is  no 
art  which  can  be  placed  in  comj^arison  with  music." 
"  Why  is  it,"  he  exclaimed  again,  "  that  we  have 
such  a  number  of  grand  tunes  in  secular  minstrelsy, 
while  all  our  spiritual  music  is  poor  and  cold  ?"  and 
here  he  sang,  by  way  of  illustration,  one  or  two  Ger- 
man songs,  and  tlien  some  of  the  hymns  in  ordinary 
use,  adding,  "  I  despise  those  who  despise  music."t 
~  Luther's  Treatise  on  Education.  f  Tischreden. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  508 

Printing  Lutlier  esteemed  the  latest  and  best 
gift  vouclisafed  by  God  to  man;""'^'  certainly  no  one 
had  better  reason  to  esteem  it. 

Concerning  sermons,  Luther  once  said,  "Al- 
brecht  Diirer,  the  famous  painter  of  Nuremburg, 
used  to  say,  that  he  took  no  pleasure  in  the  works 
of  art  which  Avere  overladen  with  coloring,  and 
that  he  much  preferred  those  which  were  plain  and 
simple  in  their  execution ;  and  so  say  I  of  sermons. 
Let  them  be  compact  and  lively,  but  no  t  verbose  or 
affected  ;  and  so  of  their  delivery. "f 

To  us  these  wise  and  kindly  phases  of  Luther's 
domestic  character  are  replete  with  strange  fascina- 
tion. We  say  again,  never  does  he  present  a  finer 
figure  than  when  seated  at  his  fireside,  engaged  in 
the  exercise  of  the  charities  of  life.  Grander  than 
at  Augsburg,  defending  himself  against  the  subtle- 
ties of  Cajetan ;  grander  than  at  Leipsic,  where  the 
massive  sword  of  his  eloquence  beat  Eck  to  the 
ground ;  grander  than  at  AVorms,  breasting  the 
fierce  torrent  of  the  Komish  onslaught,  is  he  when 
taking  into  his  house  the  plague-stricken  father  and 
his  little  ones,  when  bending  over  the  dj'ing-bed  of 
his  "rose-bud  daughter,"  and  uttering  his  sad  yet 
submissive  wail. 

Hard  and  bigoted  must  be  the  man  who  can,  in 
the  presence  of  these  facts,  deny  to  Martin  Luther 
the  possession  of  the  kindest  and  the  gentlest  of 
hearts. 

*  Tisclii-eden.  f  Ibid. 


504  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 


CHAPTER   XXXIX. 

In  1529  Luther  was  recalled  from  liis  quiet 
teaching  at  the  university,  from  his  turning,  from 
his  gardening,  from  the  delicious  repose  of  his  fire- 
side, into  active  life,  by  the  dangers  that  menaced 
the  Reformation  and  Germany. 

A  league  of  the  Romish  princes  was  formed 
against  the  elector  of  Saxony  and  the  landgrave  of 
Hesse  ;*  the  Turks  having  overrun  Hungary,  pitched 
their  tents  before  Yienna. 

The  reformers  had  been  accused  of  manoeuvring 
to  reduce  the  empire  into  vassalage  to  the  Ottoman 
Porte.  Absurd  as  the  charge  was,  it  gained  cre- 
dence in  those  credulous  days,  and  this  idea  Luther 
now  set  himself  to  repudiate.  Accordingly,  in  a 
stirring  pamphlet  dedicated  to  the  prince  of  Hesse, 
he  summoned  his  countrymen  to  arms  against  the 
Moslems ;  and  Germany,  responding  to  the  fiery  ap- 
peal, arose  and  saved  its  independence. 

At  the  same  time  the  Lutheran  princes  set  them- 
selves in  motion  to  crush  the  league  against  their 
religious  liberty,  and  falling  upon  their  foes  ere 
their  opposing  muster  was  completed,  mulcted  them 
in  the  sum  of  one  hundred  thousand  crowns  of  gold, 
as  an  indemnity  for  the  expense  of  their  armaments, 
and  as  the  price  of  peace.f 

The  Reformation  was  now  in  the  full  tide  of 
-  »  Coclilieus,  p.  171.  t  Ukeut,  p.  216. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  505 

success.  The  Turks  held  the  emperor  in  check  on 
the  Hungarian  border ;  the  inimical  duke  George  of 
Saxony,  and  the  powerful  bishops  of  the  north  were 
obliged  to  stand  quietly  by  and  see  their  subjects 
proselyted ;  the  grand-master  of  the  Teutonic  order, 
Albert  of  Brandenburg,  had  secularized  the  Prussian 
states ;  and  the  dukes  of  Mecklenburg  and  of  Bruns- 
wick, emboldened  by  this  important  occurrence,  had 
summoned,  by  a  public  decree,  the  Lutheran  preach- 
ers to  enter  their  dominions.""'  Haying  thu's  over- 
run Germany,  the  Reformation  passed  the  Ehine 
and  spread  into  Switzerland. 

Having  at  length  secured  a  little  leisure  by  the 
treaty  of  Cambria,  and  the  raising  of  the  siege  of 
Vienna,  Charles  V.  set  himself  to  the  extirpation  of 
the  heresy  which  domineered  over  the  empire. t 

Convoking  a  diet  at  Spires  on  the  15tli  of  March, 
1529,  the  resolute  emperor  had  it  there  decreed  that 
the  German  states  should  continue  to  ohej  the 
edict  promulgated  at  Worms  against  Luther  in 
1524,  and  that  every  kind  of  innovation  should  be 
interdicted  until  a  general  council  could  be  con- 
vened. 

"It  was  then,"  says  Michelet,  "that  the  party 
of  the  Pieformation  burst  forth  with  vigor  into  light. 
The  elector  of  Saxony,  the  margrave  of  Branden- 
burg, the  landgrave  of  Hesse,  the  dukes  of  Lunen- 
burgh,  the  prince  of  Anhalt,  and  together  with 
these  the  deputies  of  fourteen  imperial  free  towns, 
all  present  at  the  diet,  framed  in  concert  a  solemn 

*  Cocblieus.  t  -11)1(1. 

r.iither.  22 


506  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

protest  against  the  decree  of  the  diet,  declaring  it 
ahke  unjust  and  impious. 

"  From  this  protest  the  whole  reform  party  as- 
sumed, and  ever  after  retained,  the  name  of  Prot- 
estants.''''^' 

Under  this  threatening  state  of  affairs,  the  chiefs 
of  the  Protestants  felt  the  absolute  necessity  of 
uniting  the  dissenting  sects,  and  of  melting  all  minor 
differences  into  one  grand  opposition  to  the  Roman 
see. 

In  order  to  effect  this  object,  it  was  regarded  as 
essential  to  reconcile  Luther  and  those  followers  of 
Zwingie  and  Carlstadt  who  were  called  Sacramen- 
tarians. 

Accordingly  the  landgrave  of  Hesse  summoned 
Luther,  Zwiugle,  fficolampadius,  Bucer,  and  others 
of  the  prominent  leaders  of  the  Reformation,  to 
meet  and  attempt  a  settlement  of  the  disputed 
points  at  Marburg. f 

It  is  sad  to  relate  that  Luther,  in  the  contro- 
versy which  ensued  concerning  the  real  presence,  did 
not  display  his  accustomed  charity  and  fairness. 
He  showed  no  disposition  to  heal  the  breach,  and 
indeed  went  to  the  conference  with  the  resolute 
intention  of  making  it  still  wider  and  more  pro- 
nounced. 

Luther  and  Zwingie  agreed  upon  every  essential 
point,  save  this  alone;  yet  when  the  great  Swiss 
conjured  him  to  acknowledge  the  bi'otherhood  of 
the  two  sides,  Luther  dogmatically  refused  to  grant 

*  Miclielet,  pp.  216,  217,  f  Menrer,  Seckendorf,  etc. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  507 

even  tliis  slight  concession ;  and  stranger  still,  the 
sentle  Melancthon  sided  with  him." 

"  Let  us  confess  our  union  in  all  things  in  which 
we  agree,"  said  Zwingle  at  the  conclusion  of  a  pro- 
longed debate,  during  which  neither  party  had 
yielded  an  inch,  and  when  it  became  certain  that 
neither  disputant  could  convince  the  other;  "and 
as  for  the  rest,  let  us  remember  that  we  are  broth- 
ers, with  the  same  cause  at  heart.  There  will  never 
be  peace  between  the  churches  if,  while  we  all  main- 
tain the  grand  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith,  we 
cannot  consent  to  differ  on  secondary  points. "t 

"  Yes,  yes,"  cried  the  impatient  landgrave  of 
Hesse,  who  was  present,  and  anxious  at  least  for 
outward  unity,  "  acknowledge  them  as  brothers." 
Zwingle,  bursting  into  tears  in  the  presence  of  the 
prince,  the  courtiers,  and  the  divines — it  is  Luther 
himself  who  relates  this — approached  Luther,  and 
held  out  his  hand;  and  this  proffered  hand  the 
great  apostle  of  the  Reformation,  the  St.  Paul  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  rejected.:]: 

The  followers  of  the  Swiss  reformer  felt  this 
unchristian  conduct,  this  contemptuous  rejection 
of  proffered  amity  and  fellowship,  keenly;  but  with 
admirable  good  sense  they  maintained  their  com- 
posure, and  having  exhausted  their  solicitations, 
quitted  the  council  hall,  serenely  appealing  to  pos- 
terity for  an  unprejudiced  verdict. § 

Upon  the  merits  of  the  point  at  issue  at  Mar- 

*  D'Aubi^'iie,  Vol.  II.,  pp.  92,  93.    f  Corpus  Kef.  I.,  1108. 
I   Corpus  Ref.,  I.,  1108.         §  Zwin^lo,  0pp.  IV.,  19-1. 


508  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

burg,  it  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  work  to  pro- 
nounce ;  but  it  is  simply  just  to  say  that  Luther's 
warmest  admirers  united  in  condemning  his  unchar- 
itable spirit  upon  that  occasion,  and  always  when 
this  question  was  argued,  and  in  wishing  that  this 
dark  spot  did  not  rest  upon  the  disc  of  his  fair 
fame. 

Zwingle's  principle  of  agreement  upon  essential 
points  is  the  true  principle  of  Christian  union.  It 
has  been  said  that  the  sixteenth  century  was  too 
deeply  sunk  in  the  slough  of  scholasticism  to  un- 
derstand it.  Still  this  unhappy  conference  at  Mar- 
burg proves  that  some  keen  souls  perceived  it  then, 
and  it  has  now  become  an  essential  canon  of  Chris- 
tian fellowship. 

This  unsatisfactory  theological  strife  filled  up 
the  interstices  of  that  great  European  war  which 
Charles  V.  waged  with  Francis  I.  and  the  Turks. 
But  during  the  most  violent  crises  of  the  military 
oj)erations,  in  the  very  spasms  of  the  war,  the  relig- 
ious conflict  knew  neither  relaxation  nor  abatement. 
It  w^as  a  solemn  and  imposing  spectacle  tljat  Ger- 
many then  offered,  absorbed  by  a  religious  senti- 
ment, and  unmindful  in  that  entrancement  of  the 
imminent  dangers  in  which  her  formidable  enemies 
threatened  to  envelop  her. 

While  the  Turks  were  bursting  through  all  the 
ancient  barriers  which  once  protected  her,  and 
while  Solyman  was  pouring  his  Tartar  hordes  into 
the  country  beyond  Vienna,  Germany  w'as  lost  in 
the  intricacies  of  a  disj)ute  respecting  transubstan- 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  509 

tiatiou  and  freewill.  The  most  renowned  of  her 
warriors  were  seated  in  dietic  assemblies,  interro- 
gating the  learned.  Such  was  the  intrepid  phlegm 
of  this  great  people ;  such  their  confidence  in  the 
reserve  force  and  in  the  members  of  the  nation.* 

The  war  with  the  Turks  and  with  France,  the 
capture  of  Home,  and  the  defence  of  Vienna,  had  so 
incessantly  occupied  the  emperor,  that,  despite  the 
neAV  decree  of  the  diet  of  Spires,  the  Protestants  had 
enjoyed  religious  toleration  thus  far.  But  in  1530, 
seeing  France  prostrate,  Italy  quelled,  Solyman 
driven  within  his  own  boundaries,  and  no  fresh 
W'Orlds  to  conquer,  Charles  V.  laid  aside  his  sword, 
and  taking  up  a  crosier  and  playing  pope,  recalled 
the  oath  which  he  had  made  at  Barcelona,  and  set 
about  preparing  "  a  suitable  antidote  for  the  pes- 
tilential disease  with  which  the  Germans  were  at- 
tacked."t 

He  summoned  the  two  opposing  religious  sys- 
tems to  face  him  at  Augsburg.  Protestants  and 
Romanists  responded  willingly :  the  Romanists, 
because  they  felt  confident  of  a  triumph  through 
the  well-known  predilections  and  zeal  of  the  em- 
peror; the  Protestants,  because  they  felt  that  the 
time  had  come  to  declare  themselves  in  the  face  of 
Europe,  and  to  frame  thus  openly  and  solemnly  a 
digest  of  their  creed. 

Luther,  over  whom  there  was  still  suspended  the 
edict  of  Worms,  in  which  he  was  declared  to  be  a 

*  Michelet. 

\  Dumaul,  Corp.  Univ.  Diplomatique,  IV.,  1,  5. 


510  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

heretic,  was,  much  against  his  own  will,  and  through 
the  prudence  of  his  friends,  compelled  to  absent 
himself  from  Augsburg,  his  place  being  supplied  by 
Melancthon  :  but  the  great  reformer  was  conveyed, 
by  the  elector  John  Frederick,  as  near  to  the  place 
of  convocation  as  a  regard  for  his  safety  would  per- 
mit, and  he  was  stationed  in  the  strong  and  neigh- 
boring fortress  of  Coburg,  whence  he  was  enabled 
to  maintain  with  ease  and  expedition  a  constant 
intercourse  with  the  Protestant  representatives. 

The  states  of  Germany  had  never  been  more 
nobly  represented  than  they  were  at  the  opening  of 
this  famous  diet.  Charles  Y,  took  his  seat  as  arbi- 
ter, and  attendant  upon  him  were  Ferdinand,  the 
newly  elected  king  of  the  Romans,  the  pope's  legate, 
the  subtle  Campeggio,  charged  with  all  the  author- 
ity and  the  weighty  counsels  of  the  pontifical  court, 
and  a  glittering  retinue  of  princely  prelates. 

KejDresenting  the  Protestant  interest,  stood  the 
venerable  elector  of  Saxony,  the  chivalrous  land- 
grave of  Hesse,  the  learned  and  ardent  Albert  of 
Brandenburg,  and  the  deputies  of  those  cities  which, 
in  the  true  sjDirit  of  free  and  wealthy  communities, 
had  been  among  the  first  to  oppose  the  suj)ersti- 
tions  and  tyrannical  dogmas  of  the  Roman  see.* 

After  the  accomplishment  of  the  routine  busi- 
ness, of  the  diet,  the  emperor  turned  to  the  Protes- 
tant envoys,  and  bade  them  present  in  writing  a 
concise  exposition  of  what  they  believed  and  of 
what  they  denied.  This  was  on  Friday,  the  17th 
*  Stebbiiig,  Vol.  II.,  p.  2-il. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  51.1 

of  June,  1530,  and  Charles  gave  the  Protestants 
until  the  25th  instant  for  the  composition  of  their 
confession.* 

This  proposition  was  received  with  delight  in 
the  reform  camp.  In  the  absence  of  Luther,  Me- 
lancthon  was  selected  to  draw  up  the  confession. 
This  he  immediately  set  about  doing ;  and  so  inces- 
santly did  he  work  at  it,  that  in  this  service  of  God 
he  was  near  committing  suicide.t  By  Thursday, 
the  23d  inst.,  by  dint  of  this  incessant  labor,  the 
manuscript  was  ready;  and  after  receiving  the  as- 
sent of  the  princes,  deputies,  chancellors,  and  theo- 
logians of  the  Protestant  party,  who  had  met  early 
in  the  morning  at  the  elector's  lodgings  for  the  pur- 
pose of  hearing  it  read,  it  was  forwarded  to  Luther 
at  Coburg,  for  his  revision  and  final  judgment. 

Luther  gave  it  an  attentive  perusal,  and  on  re- 
turning it  to  the  elector  he  wrote,  "  I  like  it  well 
enough,  and  have  no  essential  corrections  to  make. 
Besides,  simple  corrections  would  hardly  suit  me ; 
't  is  not  in  my  vein.  I  cannot  walk  so  meekly  and 
so  silently.  Pray  God  't  is  for  the  best,  and  that  it 
may  bear  much  and  good  fruit."| 

Melancthon  had  based  the  fundamental  doctrines 
of  the  confession  ux)on  the  principles  which  Luther 
had  so  luminously  explained  and  defended  ;  but  his 
conciliatory  temper  led  him  to  penetrate  the  over- 
powering vehemence  of  his  great  friend's  tenets  with 
the  gentler  and  more  pacific  tone  of  his  own  intel- 

*  MosLeim.  f  Camer,  Vitu  Phil.  Melauc. 

t  Coip.  Kef.  H.,  40. 


512  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

lect ;  so  that  the  writing  was  couched  in  words  which 
savored  not  so  much  of  rigorous  independence  as  of 
persuasive  deprecation.  Still  it  was  regarded  as  a 
masterly  performance,  and  in  the  main  gave  general 
satisfaction  to  the  dissenting  sects,  though  the  arti- 
cle on  the  real  presence  did  not  meet  the  approba- 
tion of  the  very  large  party  which  held  with  Zwin- 
gle,  Bucer,  and  Q^colampadius,  that  the  biblical  ex- 
pression, This  is  my  hody,  was  symbolical." 

On  the  25tli  of  June,  the  chapel  of  the  palatine 
palace  was  crowded  densely,  and  the  approaches 
to  it  were  blocked  up  by  an  excited  throiig.t 

After  all  were  seated,  and  in  the  midst  of  one  of 
those  painful  hushes  which  usually  precede  what 
are  felt  to  be  momentous  enterprises,  chancellor 
Bayer  arose,  and  in  a  distinct  and  finely  modulated 
voice  which  carried  his  words  far  beyond  the  echo- 
ing arches  of  the  little  chapel  to  the  greedy  ears  of 
the  outer  thousands,  read  the  Protestant  confession 
of  faith. t. 

Bayer  held  in  his  hand  two  copies  of  the  writ- 
ing, one  in  Latin  the  other  in  German ;  perceiving 
which,  Charles,  incited  thereto  by  the  wily  Coch- 
Igeus,  requested  him  to  read  the  confession  in  Latin. 
By  this  manoeuvre  the  Eomanists  intended  to  ruin 
the  effect  of  what  was  uttered,  since  the  vast  majority 
of  those  present  would  not  have  been  able  to  com- 
prehend a  word.§ 

But   the   Saxon    elector  defeated    this   notable 

*  Spalatin's  Narrative.  f  Jonas,  Coq}.  Eef.  II.,  150. 

X  Seckendorf.  -  §  Ibid. 


OF  MAETIN   LUTHEK.  513 

stratagem  by  reminding  Charles  that  since  they 
stood  on  German  soil,  and  read  a  German  confes- 
sion to  an  assembly  of  Germans,  it  would  be  more 
fitting  to  use  the  national  language.* 

No  further  objection  being  made,  the  chancellor 
proceeded  in  German : 

"  Most  serene,  most  mighty  and  invincible  em- 
peror, and  most  gracious  lord,  we  who  now  appear 
in  your  presence  declare  ourselves  ready  to  confer 
amicably  with  you  on  the  fittest  means  of  restoring 
one  sole,  true,  and  same  faith,  since  it  is  for  one 
sole  and  same  Christ  that  we  fight.  And  in  case 
these  religious  dissensions  cannot  be  settled  ami- 
cably, we  then  otfer  to  your  majesty  to  explain  our 
cause  in  a  general,  free  Christian  council. "f 

After  this  exordium,  Bayer  confessed  the  Prot- 
estant belief  in  the  Trinity,  borrowing  therefor  the 
words  of  the  Nicene  council ;  original  and  heredi- 
tary sin,  "  which  bringeth  eternal  death  to  all  who 
are  not  born  again ;"  and  the  incarnation  of  the 
Son — very  God  and  very  man.:]: 

The  orator  then  continued :  *'  We  teach  more- 
over, that  we  cannot  be  justified  before  God  by  our 
own  strength,  our  merits,  or  our  works;  but  that  we 
are  justified  freely  for  Christ's  sake  through  faith, 
when  we  believe  that  our  sins  are  forgiven  in  virtue 
of  Christ,  Avho  by  his  death  has  made  satisfaction 
for  our  sins :  this  faith  is  the  righteousness  that  God 
imputeth  to  the  sinner. 

"^  Corp.  Eef.,  II.,  153.  f  Urkuucl,  Confessio.  Augs. 

J  Urkiind,  Confessio.  Augs.  I.,  682. 
22* 


514:  THE   LIFE  AND   TIMES 

"  We  teacli  at  the  same  time  that  this  faith  ought 
to  bear  good  fruits,  and  that  we  must  do  all  the 
good  works  commanded  by  God,  for  the  love  of  God, 
and  not  by  their  means  to  gain  the  grace  of  God."'^ 

The  Protestants  next  declare  their  faith  in  the 
Christian  church,  which  they  asserted  to  be  "  the 
assembly  of  all  true  believers;"  and  they  then  suc- 
cessively confessed  their  adherence  to  the  evangel- 
ical idea  of  the  doctrines  of  confession,  penance, 
the  nature  of  the  sacraments — "not  only  signs 
whereby  the  profession  of  the  gospel  is  set  forth, 
but  the  witnesses  of  the  love  of  God  towards  men, 
which  serve  to  excite  and  establish  faith ;"  the 
"  real  presence  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  in 
the  Lord's  suj:)per,  under  the  form  of  the  bread  and 
wine ;"  the  right  of  each  church  to  select  its  own 
pastor ;  the  freedom  of  the  will,  in  regard  to  which 
Bayer  said,  "  We  confess  that  man's  will  has  a  cer- 
tain liberty  of  accomplishing  civil  justice,  and  of 
loving  the  things  that  reason  comprehends;  that 
man  can  do  the  good  which  is  within  the  sphere  of 
nature  :  plough  his  fields,  eat,  drink,  have  a  friend, 
put  on  or  off  a  coat,  build  a  house,  take  a  wife,  and 
exercise  a  calling;  as  also  he  can  of  his  own  move- 
ment do  evil,  kneel  before  an  idol,  and  commit  mur- 
der. But  we  maintain  that  without  the  Holy  Ghost 
he  cannot  do  what  is  righteous  in  the  sight  of  God/'t 
Then  returning  to  the  grand  doctrine  of  the  Refor- 
mation, and  recalling  to  mind  that  the  doctors  of 
the  pope  have  never  ceased  impelling  the  faithful  to 
•  Urkund,  Confessio.  Augs.  f  Ibid.  I.,  488. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHER.  515 

puerile  and  useless  works,  as  the  custom  of  chap- 
lets,  invocations  of  saints,  monastic  vows,  proces- 
sions, fasts,  feast-dajs,  brotherhoods,  abstinence 
from  meat  on  certain  days — all  of  which  the  con- 
fassion  repudiated,  and  placed  under  the  ban  of 
reason — the  Protestants  added,  that  as  .for  them- 
selves, while  urging  the  practice  of  truly  Christian 
works,  of  which  little  had  been  said  before  their 
time,  "  they  still  taught  that  man  is  justified  by 
faith  alone;  not  by  that  faith  which  is  a  simple 
knowledge  of  ecclesiastical  history,  and  which  wicked 
ifien  and  even  devils  possess,  but  by  a  faith  which 
believes  not  only  the  history,  but  the  effects  of  his- 
tory, which  believes  that  through  Christ  we  obtain 
needed  grace  and  salvation."" 

"Such,"  said  Bayer,  "is  a  summary  of  the  doc- 
trine professed  in  our  churches:  by  this  recital  it 
may  be  seen  that  we  in  no  respect  oj)pose  the  Scrip- 
tures, the  universal  church,  nor  even  the  Romish 
church  as  it  is  described  by  the  fathers ;  and  since 
this  is  so,  to  reject  us  as  heretics  is  an  offence  against 
unity  and  charity."t 

Here  ended  the  first  part  of  the  confession,  the 
aim  of  which  was  to  explain  the  scriptural  grounds 
upon  which  the  Reformation  based  itself.  The 
second  portion  was  devoted  to  an  exposition  of  the 
abuses  which  had  occasioned  the  movement  for  re- 
form.    These  were  divided  under  separate  heads : 

1.  The  refusal  of  the  cup  to  the  laity  in  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Lord's  supper. 

"  Urknnd,  Coufessio.  Augs.,  p.  498.  f  Ibid.  501. 


516  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

2.  The  celibacy  of  the  clerg_y,  which  was  pro- 
nounced to  be  contrary  to  the  freedom  of  the  gos- 
pel, and  productive  of  great  evils. 

3.  The  abuses  of  the  mass,  "  which,"  saj's  the 
confession,  "  we  have  not  completely  abolished  e:^- 
cept  as  a  sacrifice,  in  which  respect  it  has  no  virtue 
for  the  expiation  of  sins,  unless  the  sinner  performs 
the  conditions  enjoined  by  Christ." 

4.  Auricular  confession,  the  efficacy  of  which  the 
Protestants  declared  to  depend  entirely  upon  the 
faith  of  the  penitent. 

5.  The  abstinence  from  meats  on  prescribefll 
days. 

6.  Monastic  vows,  which  are  declared  to  be 
dangerous  snares  to  the  conscience. 

7.  The  temporal  power  of  the  pontiff,  and  the 
union  of  church  and  state. 

"  Man}',"  says  the  confession,  "  have  unskilfully 
confounded  the  episcopal  and  the  temporal  power, 
and  from  this  confusion  have  sprung  great  wars, 
revolts,  and  seditions.  It  is  for  this  reason,  and  to 
reassure  men's  consciences,  that  we  find  ourselves 
constrained  to  point  oiit  the  difference  which  exists 
between  the  power  of  the  church  and  the  power  of 
the  sword. 

"  We  therefore  teach,  that  the  power  of  the  key 
or  of  the  bishoj)S  is  conformably  with  the  written 
word,  a  commandment  emanating  from  God,  to 
X^reach  the  gospel,  to  remit  or  retain  sins,  and  to 
administer  the  sacraments.  This  power  has  refer- 
ence only  to  eternal  good,  is  exercised  only  by  the 


OF -MARTIN  LUTHER.  517 

minister  of  the  word — does  not  trouble  itself  with 
'  political  administration. 

"  The  magistracy  on  its  part  is  busied  with  every 
thing  human,  but  it  may  not  justly  touch  the  gos- 
pel. The  sovereign  protects  not  souls,  but  personal 
rights  and  temporal  possessions.  He  defends  these 
from  all  innovating  assaults,  and  by  making  use  of 
the  sword  and  by  punishment,  compels  men  to  ob- 
serve civil  justice  and  to  keep  the  peace. 

"  It  is  thus  that  we  distinguish  the  two  govern- 
ments, and  that  we  honor  both  as  the  most  excel- 
lent gifts  God  has  given  here  on  earth."* 

Bayer  occupied  two  hours  in  reading  this  mo- 
mentous and  unprecedented  document,  and  was 
listened  to  throughout  with  singular  patience  and 
profound  silence. t  It  produced  a  marvellous  effect 
on  the  princes  who  thronged  the  chapel.  Jonas 
watched  every  change  in  their  countenances,  and 
there  beheld  interest,  astonishment,  and  even  ap- 
probation depicted  by  turns.:}:  They  had  been  so 
accustomed  to  hearing  the  wildest  and  most  im- 
pious doctrines  attributed  to  the  Protestants,  that 
this  calm,  philosophical,  and  judicious  resume  of  the 
reformed  faith  took  them  by  surprise. 

Bayer  handed  the  two  copies  of  the  confession 
to  Charles  upon  descending  from  the  platform,  and 
the  monarch  retaining  the  Latin  one  for  his  own 
perusal,  handed   the  German  one,  which  was  re- 

*  Urkund,  Confessio.  Augs.  I.,  Gil.  • 

f  Seckendorf,  Melanctlion. 
t  Luth.  L.  Epp.  IV.,  71. 


518  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

garded  as  official,  to  the  elector  of  Mentz,*  Then 
with  a  whispered  request  to  the  Protestant  princes 
that  the  confession  might  not  be  published  for  the 
present,  and  with  an  assurance  of  his  gracious  con- 
sideration of  their  "  apology,"  the  emperor  dis- 
missed the  assembly.'!" 

«  Jonas  in  Corp.  Eef.  XL,  183.  +  Corp.  Eef.  II.,  143. 


or  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  519 


CHAPTEE  XL. 

While  these  events  were  occurring,  Luther, 
quietly  resigning  himself  to  his  prescribed  retire- 
ment at  Coburg,  emplo^^ed  his  time  in  alternate 
study  and  composition.  He  had  already  translated 
some  of  the  most  important  parts  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, explaining  the  text  by  his  commentaries ;  and 
he  was  now  engaged  in  translating  the  book  of 
Zechariah.* 

When  wearied  with  these  grave  pursuits,  he 
turned  for  relaxation  to  the  fables  of  ^sop,  render- 
ing them  into  German.  The  only  society  he  enjoy- 
ed was  that  of  Vitus  Theodoric,  the  pastor  of  Nurem- 
berg; but  a  guard  was  kept  upon  the  ramj)arts  of 
the  fortress  night  and  day.f 

•  Theodoric  recites  that  not  a  day  passed  in  which 
Luther  did  not  spend  at  least  three  hours  in  earnest 
prayer ;  and  though  he  appears  to  have  suffered  oc- 
casionally from  an  intense  melancholy,  and  from  de- 
pressing conjectures,  the  inevitable  concomitants  of 
his  confinement,  yet  despite  this  nervous  excite- 
ment, he  enjoyed  on  the  whole  great  consolations. 

Couriers  were  kept  in  constant  motion  between 
this  "  Sinai,"  as  Luther  termed  it,:}:  and  the  city  of 
Augsburg.     The  Protestant  princes  saAV  to  it  that 

*  Stebbing's  Hist,  of  the  Keformation,  Vol.  I. ,  p.  25-4. 

f  Ibid.  t  Briese,  Book  V.,  p.  92. 


520  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

the  absent  leader  of  their  liost  was  apprized  of  what 
passed,  immediately  upon  its  occurrence. 

Luther  besides  kept  up  a  constant  correspond- 
ence with  Melancthon. 

Poor  Philip,  unfitted  for  the  responsibility  and 
turmoil  of  such  a  scene,  was  often  terribly  depress- 
ed by  the  care  and  fatigue  of  his  position,  and  he 
poured  his  woes  and  Cassandra-like  predictions 
into  the  ears  of  his  more  independent  and  self-cen- 
tred friend. 

Luther,  by  way  of  consolation,  rebuked  him 
harshly. 

"  You  talk  to  me  of  your  labors,  your  dangers, 
your  tears ;  and  I,  is  mine  a  bed  of  roses?  Ah, 
Philip,  your  faith  is  weak.  Do  not  fear  to  trust 
God.  In  personal  temptations  I  am  weaker  than 
.you;  but  in  public  trials  you  are  as  weak  as  I  am 
in  my  trials  at  home,  if  I  may  so  call  the  tempta- 
tions with  which  Satan  unceasingly  besets  me.  You 
regard  not  your  own  life,  yet  you  tremble  for  the 
public  cause;  I  look  upon  the  public  cause,  how- 
ever gloomy  and  portentous  the  horizon  may  ap- 
pear, with  absolute  serenity,  and  tremble  only  for 
my  own  sins.  Let  us  exchange  natures  for  this 
occasion.  I  will  dwell  in  this  castle  as  Philip  Me- 
lancthon ;  do  you  bear  yourself  in  Augsburg  as 
should  Martin  Luther." 

After  prolonged  consideration,  it  was  at  length 
decided  by  the  emperor,  that  the  Protestant  con- 
fession should  be  submitted  to  the  examination  of 
the  papal  theologians.     The  Romanists  consented 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  521 

to  waive  this  right,  provided  the  Eeformers  would 
make  certain  essential  alterations.  There  Melauc- 
tlion  again  exhibited  his  Aveakness.  He  wrote 
Luther  a  tearful  letter  full  of  sad  presages,  and  con- 
cluded by  beseeching  his  assent  to  certain  modifica- 
tions of  the  confession'.* 

Luther  thus  responded,  on  the  20th  of  Septem- 
ber :  "  Our  adversaries  will  not  give  way  a  hair's 
breadth,  while  on  our  side  we  are  not  only  called 
upon  to  admit  their  canon  of  Scripture,  the  sacri- 
fice of  the  mass,  communion  in  its  restricted  form, 
the  old  jurisdiction,  but  likewise  it  is  to  be  incum- 
bent upon  us  to  avow  openly,  that  their  doctrines, 
their  persecutions,  all  that  they  have  done,  all  that 
they  have  imagined,  has  been  just  and  legitimate, 
and  that  we  have  been  wrong  in  accusing  them; 
that  is,  they  will  us  to  be  condemned  and  them- 
selves to  be  justified  by  the  force  of  our  own  testi- 
mony. Thus  we  are  not  simply  called  on  to  re- 
tract, but  ourselves  to  pronounce  a  triple  maledic- 
tion upon  our  own  acts.f 

"But,  Philip,"  he  adds,  in  the  true  spirit  of  an 
evangelist,  "  to  reason  with  you  in  this  matter  is 
in  vain:  you  are  bewildered  by  your  philosophy, 
by  your  maxims  of  worldly  prudence ;  you  believe 
that  these  matters  depend  on  human  wisdom, 
and  thereby  fulfil  the  proverb,  Cum  rafione  insanit. 
You  torment  yourself-  with  a  thousand  useless  and 
irreverent   anxieties,  forgetting  that  the  affaii"  in 

*  Camer,  Vita  Mclaiic. 

t  Luther,  quoted  iu  Michelet,  p.  221. 


522  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

hand  is  not  ours  but  God's  ;  that  it  is  above  all  hu- 
man strength  to  fathom,  to  defend,  or  to  defeat  this 
business.  Believe  me,  in  this  Christ  does  not  de- 
sire that  success  should  result  either  from  human 
counsels  or  from  human  power." 

By  this  and  kindred  epistles,  Melancthon's  natu- 
ral timidity  was  joropped  up  into  tolerable  boldness, 
and  no  concessions  which  touched  the  essential 
points  of  the  reformed  creed  could  be  wrung  from 
the  Protestants. 

After  tedious  movings  and  counter-movings, 
after  incessant  consultation,  and  the  exercise  of  a 
greater  number  of  ingenious  ai'ts  than  w^ere  ever 
known  to  Machiavelli,  the  diet  was  prorogued,  and 
Charles  announced  his  decision,  that  he  would 
award  six  months,  or  until  the  15th  of  the  following 
April,  to  the  Protestant  princes  to  repudiate  their 
errors,  shown  to  be  such  by  the  papal  theologians, 
alid  that  meantime,  they  should  hve  peaceably,  and 
observe  the  existing  laws,  civil  and  ecclesiastical.* 

On  the  23d  of  September,  1530,  the  Protestant 
princes  quitted  Augsburg,  and  Luther  exclaimed, 
as  he  began  his  preparations  for  his  homeward 
journey,  "  Thank  God  that  our  friends  are  out  of 
hell."t 

On  the  4th  of  October,  Charles  V.  wrote  to  the 
pope,  "  The  negotiations  are  broken  off;  our  adver- 
saries are  more  obstinate  than  ever ;  and  I  am 
resolved  to  employ  force  and  my  own  person  in 

*  Stebbing,  Vol.  1.,  pp.  265,  266. 
t  L.  Epp.  IV.,  175. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  523 

combating  them.  For  this  reason,  I  beg  3'our 
hohness  to  demand  the  support  of  all  Christian 
princes."* 

Rumors  of  this  martial  determination  having 
reached  the  Protestant  princes,  they  reassembled 
at  Schmulkald,  and  on  the  31st  of  December,  1530, 
entered  into  a  defensive  league,  thus  constituting 
themselves  one  united  body.t 

Luther  was  at  once  accused  of  having  persuaded 
the  Protestants  to  assume  this  hostile  attitude.  He 
thus  responded  to  the  charge :  "  I  did  not,  as  has 
been  asserted,  urge  resistance  to  the  emperor.  The 
advice  which  I,  as  a  theologian,  tendered,  was  this : 
if  the  jurists  can  show  that  the  course  proposed  is 
permitted  by  the  law,  I  also  permit  them  to  follow 
the  course  of  their  law.  If  by  the  emperor's  laws 
it  is  established  that  under  such  circumstances  as 
these  resistance  is  lawful,  then  let  Charles  be  ame- 
nable to  that  law  which  he  has  himself  made.":}: 

In  this  same  year,  Luther  wrote  a  powerful  and 
biting  pamphlet  against  a  tract  published  anony- 
mously at  Dresden,  in  which  the  Protestants  were 
accused  of  secretly  arming  themselves,  with  the 
intention  of  suddenly  falling  upon  the  unsuspect- 
ing papists,  who  were  in  the  meanwhile  intent 
only  upon  the  reestablishment  of  peace  and  frater- 
nity.§ 

"fit  is   most    carefully    concealed   whence   this 

*  Bobcrtson's  Lil'c  of  Cliurles  V. 

t  Seckeudorf,  Michelet,  Slcidau,  and  others. 

i  Tischredeu.  §  Miclielet. 


524  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

book  has  proceeded,"  said  Lutlier  in  this  memorial. 
"  Nobody  is  to  know.  Well,  I  am  content  to  remain 
with  the  rest  in  ignorance.. 

"I  will  consent  to  have  my  nostrils  closed  up 
with  rhetim,  that  I  may  not  smell  the  unlucky  pedant. 
Nevertheless  I  shall  call  into  action  all  my  adroit- 
ness, and  endeavor  to  strike  a  blow  at  the  lion's 
skin,  satisfied  that  if  I  shall  hit  the  ass  who  is  con- 
cealed beneath  it,  no  fault  will  be  imputable  either 
to  me  or  to  him,  but  solely  to  the  covering  in  which 
he  has  enveloped  himself. 

"Be  it  true,  or  be  it  not,  that  the  Protestants 
are  making  preparations  and  assembling  together, 
what  is  that  to  me?  I  have  neither  enjoined  nor 
counselled  them  to  do  so.  I  neither  know  what 
they  do,  nor  what  they  do  not ;  but  since  the  papists 
announce,  through  the  pages  of  this  book,  that  they 
believe  in  the  reality  of  the  armaments,  I  welcome 
the  report  with  pleasure,  and  I  rejoice  in  their 
delusions  and  alarms.  I  would  even  assist  in  aug- 
menting  the  illusive  fears,  if  I  only  knew  how,  were 
it  but  to  make  them  die  of  fright.  If  Cain  kills 
Abel,  if  Annas  and  Caiaphas  persecute  Jesus,  is  it 
not  just  that  they  be  punished?  Let  then  God's 
foes  live  in  perpetual  agon}^ ;  let  them  tremble  at  the 
sound  of  each  falling  leaf;  let  them  behold  on  every 
side  the  phantoms  of  insurrection  and  death  ;  noth- 
ing could  be  more  equitable. 

"  Is  it  not,  ye  impostors,  true,  that  when  our 
princes  presented  their  confession  of  faith  at  Augs- 
burg, a  papist  exclaimed,  '  These  fathers  have  j)re- 


•      OF  MAKTIN  LUTHER.  525 

sented  a  book  written  in  ink ;  I  would  answer  it 
with  one  written  in  blood?' 

"  Is  it  not  likewise  true,  that  the  elector  of 
Brandenburg  and  the  duke  George  of  Saxony 
promised  the  emperor  to  supply  him  five  thousand 
horse  if  he  would  sound  to  battle  against  the  Refor- 
mation ? 

"Is  it  not  true  that  a  vast  number  of  priests  and 
papists  wagered  among  themselves  that  before  St. 
Michael's  day  it  would  be  all  up  with  the  Luther- 
ans? 

"  Is  it  not  true  that  the  elector  of  Brandenburg 
declared  publicly  that  the  emperor  and  all  the  spates 
would  devote  themselves  body  and  soul  in  order  to 
attain  that  end  ? 

"  Do  you  believe  that  your  edict  is  unknown  to 
the  world  ?  Do  you  think  that  people  are  ignorant 
of  the  fact,  that  by  this  edict  everj^. sword  in  the 
emjjire  is  unsheathed  and  sharpened,  that  every 
arquebuse  is  double  charged,  that  every  bigot  lance 
is  laid  in  rest  to  rush  down  uj^on  the  elector  of  Sax- 
ony and  his  adherents,  to  spread  fire  and  blood,  and 
to  fill  the  Avorld  with  desolation  and  weeping?" 

"  Look  at  your  edict.  Look  at  your  own  mur- 
derous designs,  inscribed  with  your  own  seals  and 
emblazoned  arms,  and  then  will  you  venture  to  call 
that  peace,  or  dare  to  accuse  the  Protestants  of 
manoeuvring  to  disturb  the  good  and  fraternal  un- 
derstanding that  exists  ?  Oh,  matchless  impudence ; 
Oh,  boundless  hypocrisy ! 

"  But  Ave  understand  your  projects.     You  desire 


526  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES     • 

onr  people  not  to  make  any  preparations  for  that 
relentless  war  with  wliicli  j-ou  Lave  so  long  men- 
aced tlie  reform,  but  that  they  should  quietly  suffer 
their  throats  to  be  cut,  like  so  many  sheep  in  a 
slaughter-house,  without  either  complaining  or 
standing  on  their  defence.  Much  obliged  to  you, 
good  folk.  I,  a  preacher  of  the  word,  might  submit 
to  such  a  proceeding ;  and  perhaps  others  to  whom 
the  grace  of  God  has  been  given  might  also  serenely 
accept  this  fate. 

"  But  I  cannot  guarantee  to  tyrants  that  all  will 
follow  my  example.  If  I  publicly  advised  the  Prot- 
estants to  meet  quietly  their  fate,  the  tyrants  would 
doubtless  thank  me ;  nay,  j)erchance,  canonize  ma  ; 
but  I  am  by  no  means  disposed  to  relieve  them  of 
the  apprehensions  they  entertain  of  bur  resistance. 
Do  they  seek  to  win  their  spurs  by  massacring  our 
congregations?  Let  them  gain  their  honors  as  it 
behooves  gallant  soldiers,  by  braving  real  dangers. 
Cut-throats  by  profession,  let  them  at  least  look  to 
be  met  as  such."- 

In  June,  1530,  Luther's  dear  old  father  died  at 
Eisleben,  ripe  in  years,  in  honors,  and  in  grace. 

"  I  write  to  you,"  he  said  to  a  friend,  upon  learn- 
ing of  his  father's  decease,  "  under  the  depression 
of  heavy  sadness,  for  I  have  just  received  intelli- 
gence of  the  death  of  my  father,  that  good  old  man 
whom  I  so  loved.  And  though  by  my  means  he 
passed  hence  easily  and  happily  into  the  bosom  of 
Christ,  and  now,  escaped  from  the  monsters  of  this 

•  Luther,  quoted  in  Michelet,  at  pp.  227-229. 


OF  MAETIN  LUTHEK.  527 

world,  reposes  in  eternal  peace,  yet  my  heart  is  sad 
and  agitated  to  think  that  he  is  gone  from  me — he 
who  gave  me  birth,  and  nourished  my  early  years."* 

In  a  letter  written  on  the  same  day,  June  5th, 
to  Philip  Melancthon,  he  says,  "  My  dear  father  is 
now  no  more.  I  succeed  to  his  name  and  place. 
It  is  I  now  who  am  '  old  Luther.'  Presently  it  will 
be  my  turn,  my  privilege,  to  follow  him  through  the 
jaws  of  death  to  that  kingdom  which  Clirist  has 
promised  to  all  those  who  for  his  sake  undergo  mis- 
ery and  opprobrium  upon  earth." 

Luther's  mother  did  not  long  survive  her  hus- 
band. Earl}'  in  1531  she  also  died,  and  Martin  was 
again  grief-stricken  ;  but  he  rejoiced  that  she,  like 
his  father,  lived  long  enough  to  see  and  accept  the 
truth.t 

From  this  time  Luther's  connection  with  great 
public  events  ceased.  Through  Melancthon,  he  had 
stood  out  in  bold  relief  on  the  grand  historic  stage 
at  Augsburg,  and  uttered  that  confession  of  faith 
which  justified  the  Keformation,  and  which  was  sa- 
luted by  Germany  at  large  with  boisterous  enthusi- 
asm. The  politics  of  the  Reformation  now  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  princes  who  had  espoused  the 
new  tenets.  There  was  accordingly  less  occasion 
than  at  the  feeble  outset  for  a  theologian  to  play  the 
political  gladiator,  and  to  struggle  in  the  arena  of 
statescraft  witli  worldly  cardinals  and  coroneted 
emperors. 

Luther  very  gladly  availed  himself  of  this  oppor- 

*  Tischi'eden,  p.  331.  f  Seckendorf. 


528  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

tunity  to  retreat  into  the  inner  sanctuary  of  the 
reform.  He  had  never  courted  distinction  or  no- 
toriety. Pushed  into  prominence  by  the  relentless 
force  of  circumstances  sorely  against  his  will,  beck- 
oned forward  by  the  imperious  finger  of  God,  he  ac- 
cepted serenely  the  necessities  of  the  battle.  But 
when  the  battle  was  fought  and  won,  when  Europe 
recognized  the  right  of  Protestantism  to  breathe, 
when  other  champions  came  forward  to  defend  the 
political  rights  of  the  reformed  theology,  Luther  vol- 
untarily severed  the  ties  that  bound  him  to  the  lead- 
ership, and  devoted  his  whole  attention  to  lucid  ex- 
positions of  the  Protestant  tenets,  and  to  the  settle- 
ment of  the  discipline  of  the  Reformation. 

It  is  easy  to  conceive  what  anxiety  this  occupa- 
tion must  have  caused  him.  Considerations  involv- 
ing the  highest  questions  of  Christian  duty  arose  at 
ever}^  step.  He  could  borrow  but  few  ideas  from 
the  constitution  of  the  Roman  church. 

That  see  whose  omnipotence  Luther  had  con- 
quered had  been  supj)orted  for  centuries  by  the 
mightiest  efforts  of  power,  was  adorned  with  the 
spoils  of  ages,  and  had  been  able  to  employ  in  its 
service  the  finest  and  subtlest  minds  that  ever  en- 
gaged in  the  task  of  representing  spiritual  truths 
by  outward  symbols.  The  different  orders  of  its 
clergy  were  linked  together  by  ties  which  converted 
them  into  a  Avell-disciplined  army.  Their  means  of 
provision  were  ample,  brilliant  rewards  tempted  the 
eloquent  and  accomplished  to  the  highest  exercise 
of  their  talents,  the  ambitious  had  examples  to  lure 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  529 

them  ou  whicli  miglit  lift  the  most  desponding  and 
shiggish  minds  into  active  enthusiasm.  Even  the 
most  soaring  and  sanguine  were  more  than  satisfied 
by  their  remembrance  of  the  fact  that  the  red  hat 
of  a  cardinal,  nay,  the  pontifical  tiara  itself,  might 
crown  their  efforts  with  splendid  success.  At  the 
same  time  their  influence  among  the  peojDle,  their 
exj)erience  in  all  the  methods  whereby  large  masses 
of  mankind  are  held  in  awe,  enabled  them  to  carry 
forward  with  comparative  ease  whatever  projects 
seemed  best  calculated  to  increase  their  emoluments, 
or  to  subdue  the  obstacles  whicli  opposed  the  en- 
largement of  their  swelling  see. 

The  reformers  had  to  pursue  the  objects  of  exter- 
nal churchmanship  under  vastly  different  auspices. 
Their  revenue  was  small  and  precarious  ;  they  were 
not  yet  cemented  together  in  the  bonds  of  well- 
ascertained  fellowship  :  whatever  rules  of  discipline 
they  had  to  institute  must  depend  for  their  efficiency, 
not  on  feelings  of  awe,  or  upon  deep-rooted,  long- 
existing  sentiments  of  veneration,  but  upon  the  calm 
good  sense  of  the  people — upon  an  intelligence  which 
they  had  to  impart  to  themselves  by  conscientious 
and  assiduous  labor.-' 

This  compelled  Luther  to  dive  into  the  depths 
of  his  capacious  mind,  to  see  upon  what  founda- 
tion the  new  system  should  be  based.  Happily 
for  Protestantism,  he  lost  none  of  his  Titanic  en- 
ergy by  the  increase  of  years  and  toil.  Of  him,  as 
of  others  of  similar  character,  it  may  be  said  that 
*  Stebbing,  Vol.  II.,  p.  150. 

Luther.  ZO 


530  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

new  light  was  let  in  "  by  the  chinks  which  time  had 
made." 

But  his  bodily  health  suffered  more  and  more 
from  those  distressing  chronic  diseases  to  which  his 
otherwise  robust  physique  had  long  been  subject. 
Still  he  wrote  and  spoke  with  the  vigor  of  the  open- 
ing years  of  his  career.  His  infirmities  could  not 
bind  his  soul,  nor  had  they  much  power  to  inter- 
rupt his  labors,  so  Herculean  was  his  determination. 
But  while  he  breathed  forth  the  earnest  convictions 
of  a  mature  spirit — while  he  hurled  defiance  at  the 
fortresses  of  darkness  and  error,  he  more  frequently 
than  of  old  spoke  as  a  man  who  felt  that  his  extra- 
ordinary career  would  shortly  be  judged,  not  by  his 
own,  or  by  any  human  judgment,  but  by  Him  unto 
whom  all  hearts  are  known,  and  from  whom  no 
secret  can  be  hid. 

In  1536  Erasmus  died  at  Basle,  despised  by  the 
reformers,  suspected  by  the  papists,  anathematized 
by  the  Sorbonne,  and  sadly  broken  in  his  influence.* 
This  event,  which  would  have  convulsed  the  learned 
world  had  it  occurred  earlier,  caused  scarcely  a 
ripple  on  the  European  sea,  and  indeed  the  sage  of 
Rotterdam  had  already  outlived  both  his  usefulness 
and  his  fame. 

About  this  same  time  Luther's  determined  and 
bitter  enemy,  George  duke  of  Saxony,  also  died. 
He  was  succeeded  by  his  brother  Henry,  who  had 
long  been  a  declared  Protestant,  and  who  upon  his 
accession  immediately  summoned  Luther  to  Lcip- 
«  Sleidau,  Flem-j. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  531 

sic — a  sphere  which,  as  the  ancient  seat  of  George's 
persecutions,  required  the  most  energetic  attention. 
The  reformers  of  this  city  and  the  surrounding  ter- 
ritory had  h~>ng  been  compelled  to  support  their  faith 
on  the  scanty  food  which  they  could  find  under  the 
jealous  eye  of  the  late  prince.  It  was  therefore 
but  just  that,  in  these  better  days,  they  should  be 
nourished  by  a  fuller  supply  of  spiritual  gifts."'^' 

From  this  busy  scene  Luther  was  recalled  ere 
long  to  his  own  hearthstone  by  the  dangerous  ill- 
ness of  his  favorite  daughter  Magdalene.  But 
though  he  travelled  post-haste,  he  reached  Wittem- 
berg  only  just  in  time  to  close  poor  Maggie's  eyes.f 

The  loss  of  this  daughter,  who  died  at  the  early 
age  of  fourteen,  was  felt  severely  both  by  Luther 
and  his  wife.  But  he  bore  up  nobly  under  the  trial, 
and  comforted  poor  "  Ketha"  so  far  as  any  earthly 
consoler  could. 

When  his  friends  came  in  to  remove  the  body, 
and  expressed  their  sympathy  with  his  affliction,  he 
replied,  "  Friends,  be  not  grieved,  I  have  sent  a 
saint  to  heaven.  Could  such  a  death  be  mine,  I 
would  die  joyfully  this  moment."  Then  turning  to 
his  wife  who  stood  weeping  bitterly,  he  said,  "  Dear 
Catherine,  console  yourself ;  think  where  our  daugh- 
ter is  gone,  for  sure  she  has  passed  happily  into 
peace.  The  flesh  bleeds  doubtless,  for  such  is  its 
nature,  but  the  spirit  lives  and  speeds  to  the  place 
of  its  wishes.":]: 

«  Mi4anctlion,  Vita  Lutheri.  f  Tisclireden,  22G. 

X  TiHchreden,  228. 


532  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

This  bereavement  served  still  further  to  wean 
Luther  from  the  vanities  of  earth.  His  mind  almost 
constantly  dwelt  upon  the  heavenly  beatitudes, 
and  he  murmured  frequently  those  words  of  Sim- 
eon, "  Now,  Lord,  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in 
peace." 

He  did  not  take  much  interest  nor  put  much 
faith  in  the  several  attempts  at  reconciliation  which 
were  made  by  the  Protestant  princes  at  intervals 
during  the  years  1540-41,  and  even  up  to  1546. 
He  saw,  and  had  long  seen  the  deadly  and  irrepres- 
sible nature  of  this  ecclesiastical  warfare,  and  he 
looked  upon  all  further  conference  with  the  Roman 
antichrist  as  blasphemous. 

Accordingly  he  did  not  even  attend  the  confer- 
ences at  Worms  and  at  Ratisbon,  but  from  the  out- 
set predicted  failure.  "I  will  anticipate  your  let- 
ters," so  he  wrote  a  friend  who  was  bent  upon  being 
present  at  these  diets,  "  and  tell  you  what  will  pass 
at  Ratisbon  before  you  can  inform  me.  You  have 
been  sent  for  by  the  emperor ;  he  has  told  you  to 
turn  over  in  your  mind  conditions  of  peace.  You 
replied  in  Latin  as  well  as  you  could,  all  to  no  pur- 
pose. Eck  in  his  usual  way  vociferated,  '  Most 
gracious  emperor,  I  will  prove  against  any  one  that 
we  are  right,  and  that  the  pope  is  the  infallible 
head  of  the  church.'  You  will  then  adjourn  in  con- 
fusion and  with  augmented  bitterness,  and  that 's  all 
you  will  tell  me."" 

Luther  was  right.  These  conferences  were 
f'  L.  0pp.  XV.,  169. 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHEE.  533 

equally  futile  with  those  which  preceded  them. 
And  he  was  still  further  disgusted  with  these  mock 
attempts  at  conciliation,  by  perceiving  that  each  day 
the  debate  assumed  more  decidedly  a  political  rather 
than  a  religious  character/^  He  saw  that  the 
princes  of  his  time  sought,  in  these  august  disj)utes 
which  he  had  originated  for  the  restoration  of  the 
gospel  to  its  primitive  purity,  only  to  gratify  their 
own  earthly  ambition — that  they  were  bent  upon 
making  a  market  of  his  Christ. 

"  Our  excellent  prince,"  he  wrote  in  April,  1541, 
"  has  sent,  for  my  perusal  and  endorsement,  certain 
conditions  which  he  is  about  to  propose,  in  order 
to  bring  about  a  peace  with  the  emperor  and  our 
adversaries.  I  perceive  that  they  all  look  upon  this 
momentous  quarrel  as  if  it  were  a  comedy  which 
they  are  acting  among  themselves.  Whereas  it  is 
a  solemn  tragedy  enacted  between  God  and  Satan, 
wherein  Satan  triumphs  and  God  is  humbled.  But 
the  catastrophe  has  yet  to  come,  when  the  All- 
Powerful,  the  author  of  this  drama,  will  assign  to 
us  the  victory.  Meantime  I  am  utterly  indignant 
to  see  matters  of  such  moment  thus  trifled  with."t 

A  little  later,  Luther  was  informed  that  Charles 
had  convened  at  Trent  that  famous  council  which 
he  intended  should  settle  definitively  all  mooted 
ecclesiastical  matters,  and  that  he  was  enraged  at 
the  refusal  of  the  Protestants  either  to  recognize 
the  jurisdiction  of  his  council  or  to  attend  it. 

"  They  write  me  word  from  the  diet,"  said  Lu- 
•  Michelet.  f  Luther,  qi;otod  in  Michelet,  p.  250. 


534  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

ther  on  tlie  9tli  of  July,  1545,  "  that  tlie  emperor 
lias  been  urging  our  people  to  consent  to  his  coun- 
cil, and  that  he  is  much  enraged  at  our  refusal.  I 
cannot  comprehend  such  absurdities.  The  pope 
absolutely  refuses  to  heretics  like  ourselves  any 
standing  in  a  council,  while  the  emperor  wills  that 
we  at  once  consent  to  its  appointment,  and  obey  its 
decrees.  It  is  perhaps  God  who  has  caused  them 
to  become  thus  foolish,  but  I  can  fathom  their  ab- 
surd combination.  As  up  to  the  present  time  they 
have  not  been  able,  under  the  titles  of  pope,  emper- 
or, and  diet,  to  render  their  uiyust  cause  formidable, 
they  noAv  think  to  clothe  themselves  with  the  name 
of  a  council,  in  order  to  be  able  to  obtain  an  excuse 
for  accusing  us  of  being  so  utterly  lost  and  without 
hope,  that  we  will  listen  neither  to  pope,  church, 
emperor,  the  edicts  of  the  empire,  nor  even  to  a 
council  itself,  though  we  have  so  repeatedly  invoked 
one. 

"  Therein  may  be  discovered  the  wonderful 
cleverness  displayed  by  knowing  Satan  against 
poor  half-witted  God,  who  doubtless  will  have  gxeat 
difficulty  in  escaping  from  a  snare  so  aptly  con- 
trived. No,  it  is  our  God  who  will  mock  the  de- 
signs of  those  who  lay  toils  for  him.  If  we  are  now 
to  consent  to  the  convention  of  a  council  entertain- 
ing such  intentions  towards  us,  why,  let  me  ask, 
did  we  not  submit  ourselves  twenty-five  years  ago 
to  the  alleged  supreme  head  of  all  councils,  the 
pope,  and  his  bulls  ?"* 

*  L.  0pp.  XXVI.,  p.  178. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHER.  535 

From  this  extract  it  plainly  appears  that  Lu- 
ther's statesman-like  acumen  was  no  more  to  be  de- 
ceived, in  his  later  years  than  in  middle  life.  Still 
he  wearied  and  grew  sick  of  the  petty  chicaneries 
and  of  the  wicked  manoeuvres  of  this  earthly  king- 
dom of  palpable  imposture,  and  he  w^as  often  heard 
to  exclaim,  "  I  have  lived  long  enough ;  God  grant 
that  I  may  soon  lay  quietly  aside  this  burdensome 
worm-bag  in  earth.  I  have  undoubtedly  seen  the 
best  that  man  can  see  in  this  world ;  all  things  will 
now,  I  fear,  grow  worse  for  me  here.""-^ 

He  was  driven  by  the  constantly  increasing  force 
of  these  feelings  to  ally  himsejf  more  closely  with 
all  the  followers  of  the  reformed  theology.  His 
charity  grew  with  his  years,  and  he  was  won  more 
and  more  to  sink  non-essential  differences  in  a  grand 
brotherhood  of  essential  uniformity  of  belief. 

Thus  the  fierce  controversy  which  had  raged  so 
long  and  so  discreditably  between  the  Saxon  the- 
ologians and  the  followers  of  Zwingle,  had  been 
happily  accommodated  some  years  previous  to  this 
time  by  the  mutual  signature  at  Wittemberg  of 
certain  articles  of.  agreement,  whereby  both  parties 
agreed  to  differ  amicably,  and  the  Swiss  were  re- 
ceived as  brothers.t 

Luther  also  in  this,  the  twilight  of  his  life,  made 
more  of  his  home  than  ever,  though  he  had  never 
been  remiss  in  his  domestic  relations.  His  own 
statement  of  his  family,  made  in  the  Tisclireden,  is 
as  follows  :  "  I  married  on  the  14th  June,  1525  ;  on 

«>  Tischrcden.  t  Ukert,  I.,  307. 


536  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

the  5tli  June,  1526,  was  born  my  eldest  son,  John ; 
in  1527,  my  second  child,  my  daughter  Elizabeth, 
who  shortly  after  died  ;  in  1529,  poor  Magdalen, 
who  died  in  1542  ;  in  November,  l§Sl,  Martin ; 
28th  January,  1534,  Paul ;  and  lastly,  in  1536,  little 
Margaret."* 

Notwithstanding  this  large  and  expensive  family 
and  his  scanty  income,  his  generosity  was  very 
great.  He  would  even  give  away  to  the  poor,  in 
default  of  any  thing  else,  the  presents  Avhich  his 
children  had  received  from  their  baptismal  sponsors. 
A  poor  student  asking  him  for  relief  one  day,  he 
desired  his  wife  to  give  him  some  money ;  on  her 
replying  that  there  was  none  in  the  house,  he  took 
a  valuable  silver  cup  that  had  been  presented  to 
him,  and  handing  this  to  the  needy  scholar  told  him 
to  sell  it  at  the  goldsmith's  and  keep  the  proceeds. f 
When  expostulated  with,  he  was  wont  to  say,  "  Nay, 
friends,  it  is  better  to  give  than  to  receive." 

Luther  was  surrounded  at  his  table  not  only  by 
his  children,  but  by  a  number  of  intimate  friends. 
Melancthon,  Jonas,  Amsdorfi',  and  others  of  his  co- 
adjutors found  a  frequent  and  ever  welcome  place 
there,  becoming  thus  companions  of  his  leisure  as 
well  as  of  his  labor.  A  seat  at  Luther's  board  was 
a  coveted  distinction.  "  I  would  willingly,"  he  wrote 
Gaspard  Muller,  a  valued  friend,  "have  received 
Kegel  into  my  family  circle,  for  various  reasons; 
but  as  young  Pense  of  Jena  is  upon  the  eve  of  re- 
turning to  me,  my  table  will  be  full,  and  I  cannot 
«  Tischreden,  812.  t  Ukert,  II.,  7. 


OF   MARTIN   LUTHER.  537 

send  awaj  old  and  faithful  companions  to  make 
room  for  new  friends.  However,  after  Easter,  we 
may  have  room,  and  in  that  case  I  will  do  as  you 
desire,  that  is,  if  my  lady  Catherine  will  grant  her 
permission,  of  which  I  make  no  doubt."^' 

But  Luther's  bodily  infirmities  increased  apace. 
He  was  wrapt  in  them  as  closely  as  Laocoon  was 
in  the  serpent's  folds.  "  I  am  old,  weary,  and  use- 
less," he  wrote  drearily  to  his  old  friend  Spalatin, 
in  December,  1545 ;  "  I  have  finished  my  journey, 
and  naught  remains  but  for  the  Lord  to  gather  me 
to  my  fathers,  and  give  the  worms  and  rottenness 
their  due.  Pray  for  me,  that  the  hour  of  my  depar- 
ture may  be  pleasing  to  God,  and  salutary  to  my- 
self. I  think  no  more,  dear  Spalatin,  about  the 
emperor  and  the  empire,  except  to  refer  one  and 
the  other  to  God  in  my  prayers.  Grown  old  and 
worn  like  a  garment,  I  long  to  be  folded  and  laid 
aside,  "t 

About  the  same  time,  in  a  letter  to  Amsdorff,  he 
said,  "I  write  this  to  thee  after  supper,  for  when 
fasting  I  cannot,  without  great  danger,  even  look  at 
a  book  or  at  paper.  I  take  it  that  my  malady  is 
made  up,  first  of  the  ordinary  weakness  of  advanced 
age,  secondly  of  the  results  of  my  long  labors  and 
habitual  tension  of  thought,"  ;|; 

A  strange  feeling,  not  of  confidence  in  his  unaid- 
ed powers,  but  of  trust  in  the  means  whereby  he  had 
been  made  the  instrument  of  much  good,  led  him 

*  Tischreden,  p.  258.  t  Werke,  II.,  283. 

t  L.  Epp.,  XXXV.,  6. 


538  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

to  believe  that  his  clcpai'ture  would  be  the  signal 
for  a  general  onset,  bj  the  enemies  of  truth  and  holi- 
ness, upon  the  newlj  erected  fortress  of  the  Refor- 
mation. "As  long  as  I  live,"  he  said  one  daj  pro- 
phetically to  the  friends  gathered  round  his  board, 
"no  danger  will  arise,  and  Germany  will,  I  trust  in 
God,  enjoy  the  blessings  of  peace.  But  when  I  die, 
then  begin  to  pray,  for  you  will  have  need  of  pray- 
er ;  our  children  must  grasp  the  spear,  and  the  land 
will  be  called  to  bleed. '"'^ 

But  though  he  lived  with  the  death-angel  hover- 
ing above  his  head,  and  in  the  daily  expectation  of 
feeling  the  stroke  that  should  lay  him  low,  he  was 
still  anxious  to  employ  his  remaining  hours  to  the 
best  advantage.  He  therefore  continued  to  preach, 
to  lecture,  and  to  write  at  intervals ;  he  also  busied 
himself  in  collecting,  revising,  and  reprinting  the 
various  editions  of  his  works.  He  seemed  deter- 
mined that  when  death  did  strike  him,  he  would  fall 
in  the  harness,  actively  engaged  in  promoting  the 
amelioration  of  society,  and  the  knowledge  of  Christ 
Jesus. 

*  Stebbing,  Vol.  H.,  p.  169. 


or  MARTIN   LUTHER.  539 


CHAPTEE   XLI. 

It  was  appointed  tliat  Luther's  should  be  a  life 
of  active  beneficence  and  of  excitement  to  the  very 
last;  his  latest  days  were  occupied  in  the  delicate 
and  difficult  task  of  reconciling  the  two  estranged 
counts  of  Mansfeldt,  whose  subject  he  was  by  birth, 
and  who  had  fallen  into  a  quarrel  of  great  bitter- 
ness. 

In  November,  1545,  Count  Albert  had  written 
to  Wittemberg  earnestly  sohciting  Luther  to  hasten 
to  Eisleben  to  act  as  arbiter.  Luther  had  rephed, 
"  A  week  more  or  less,  dear  count,  will  not  stop  me 
from  coming,  though  truly  I  am  very  much  occu- 
pied with  other  affairs.  But  I  feel  that  I  shall  lie 
down  on  my  death-bed  with  joy,  when  I  have  seen 
my  dear  lords  reconciled  and  once  more  friends."* 

On  the  23d  of  January,  1546,  Luther  set  out  for 
Eisleben.  He  was  almost  sick  when  he  started,  and 
the  inclement  season  of  the  year  added  not  a  little 
to  the  fatigue  of  the  journey.  Three  of  his  sons  and 
Justus  Jonas  accompanied  him.  The  party  were 
detained  at  Halle  several  days  by  the  impassable 
state  of  the  swollen  rivers.  But  impatient  of  further 
delay,  Luther  at  length  determined  to  make  the 
passage  under  his  own  auspices.  When  the  raging 
stream  was  safely  passed,  he  turned  to  his  friends 

*  Luther's  Lebeii,  Pfixer. 


540  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

and  said  laugliinglj,  "  Wliat  a  joy  it  would  liave 
been  to  Satan  if  lie  could  only  have  managed  to 
plunge  us  all  into  this  fierce  river,"* 

Upon  his  arrival  at  Eisleben  he  was  received 
most  cordially,  and  with  every  demonstration  of 
respect.  These  greetings  over,  he  at  once  sat  down 
and  wrote  thus  to  his  Avife : 

"  To  the  very  learned  and  deeply  profound  dame 
Catherine  Luther,  my  most  gracious  spouse  :  Dear 
Catherine,  we  are  terribly  annoyed  here  in  one  way 
and  another  by  this  sad  quarrel,  but  I  think  we 
shall  have  to  stay  a  week  longer.  You  may  tell 
Maitre  Philip  from  me,  that  he  would  do  well  to 
revise  his  notes  on  the  gospel ;  for  he  does  not  seem 
in  writing  them  to  have  clearly  understood  wh}'  our 
Lord,  in  the  parable,  calls  riches  thorns.  This  is  the 
school  in  which  we  learn  these  things.  The  Scrip- 
ture throughout  menaces  thorns  with  the  eternal 
fire;  this  at  once  alarms  me,  and  gives  me  patience 
with  life,  for  I  must  exercise  my  utmost  powers  in 
settling  this  unhappy  matter,  by  God's  aid."t 

So  fine  was  Luther's /?/;e.s.se,  and  so  great  was  his 
authorit}',  that  on  the  14th  of  February,  about  a 
week  after  his  arrival  at  the  Mansfeldt  castle,  he 
could  write  his  wife,  "  We  hope,  dear  Catherine,  to 
be  with  you  again  this  week,  please  God.  The 
Almighty  has  manifested  the  power  of  his  grace  in 
this  affair.  Counts  Gebhard  and  Albert  are  recon- 
ciled. I  send  you  some  trout  that  Countess  Albert 
has  given  me.     This  lady  is  full  of  joy  at  seeing 

•  Meurnr.  \  L.Epp.,  XXXVI. 


or  MARTIN  LUTHER.  541 

peace  reestablished  in  lier  famil}- ;  I  commend  tliee 
to  God's  protection."* 

But  Luther  was  destined  never  again  to  look 
upon  his  Catherine's  face  on  earth.  He  had  been 
very  ill  on  his  arrival  at  Eisleben,  though  he  had 
still  been  kept  afoot  by  his  indomitable  will.  He 
also  preached  four  times,  and  revised  the  ecclesias- 
tical regulations  for  the  territory  of  Mansfeldt.  But 
on  the  17th  of  February,  he  fell  so  ill  that  the  counts 
entreated  him  not  to  quit  the  house.  At  supper  on 
the  evening  of  this  same  day,  he  spoke  frequently  of 
his  approaching  death;  and  some  one  asking  him 
whether  he  thought  we  should  recognize  each  other 
in  heaven,  he  gave  it  as  his  opinion  that  we  should. 

On  retiring  to  his  chamber,  accompanied  by 
Maitre  Coelius  and  his  two  sons,  he  went  to  the 
window,  and  remained  there  for  some  time  engaged 
in  silent  prayer.  His  old  friend  Shurifaber  then 
entered  the  room,  to  whom  he  said,  "I  feel  very 
weak,  good  master,  and  these  pains  rack  me  worse 
than  ever  before."  He  was  thereupon  given  a 
soothing  draught;  and  upon  discovering  that  his 
circulation  was  sluggish  and  his  body  cold,  efforts 
were  made  to  restore  it  by  fiiction.  Luther  was 
somewhat  revived  by  this  treatment,  and  he  re- 
marked to  Count  Albert,  who  had  been  summoned 
to  his  chamber  upon  his  complaint  to  Shurifaber, 
"If  I  could  sleep  for  half  an  hour,  I  think  it  would 
do  me  good."  He  did  fall  asleep,  and  remained  in  a 
gentle  slumber  for  an  hour  and  a  half. 
o  L.  Epp.  XXXVI. 


542  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

Upon  awaking  at  about  eleven  o'clock,  lie  said 
to  the  anxious  company  gathered  about  his  bedside, 
"  What,  are  you  still  here  ?  "Will  you  not  go,  dear 
friends,  and  rest  yourselves?"  On  their  repljdng 
that  they  would  remain  with  him,  he  began  to  pray 
with  fervor  in  the  Latin  tongue,  saying,  "  In  manus 
tuas  commendo  spiritum  meum ;  redemisti  me,  Do- 
mine,  Deus  veritatisy^' 

He  then  said  to  those  present,  "  Pray  all  of  you, 
dear  friends,  for  the  gospel  of  our  Lord ;  pray  that 
its  reign  may  extend,  for  the  Council  of  Trent  and 
the  j)ope  menace  it  round  about."  He  then  fell 
asleep  again  for  half  an  hour.  When  he  again 
awoke.  Dr.  Jonas  asked  him  how  he  felt.  "  Very 
ill,  very  ill,"  he  feebly  murmured.  He  shortly  add- 
ed, "My  dear  Jonas,  I  think  I  shall  die  here  at 
Eisleben,  here  where  I  was  born."  His  pain  now 
became  so  intense  that  he  could  not  lie  down ;  he 
therefore  arose  with  some  difficulty,  and  walked 
slowly  once  or  twice  across  the  room,  supported  by 
his  friends ;  after  which  he  again  lay  down,  and  had 
a  number  of  clothes  and  cushions  placed  upon  him 
to  produce  perspiration. 

Two  physicians,  accompanied  by  Count  Albert 
and  his  wife,  now  entered  the  apartment.  Luther 
said  to  them  feebly,  "Friends,  I  am  dying;  I  shall 
remain  with  you  at  Eisleben." 

When  Dr.  Jonas  expressed  a  hope  that  perspi- 
ration would  supervene  and  relieve  him,  he  rejoin- 

*■'  Into  thy  hands  I  commit  my  spirit ;  thou  hast  redeemed  me, 
Lord  God  of  ti'uth." 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  543 

ed,  "  No,  dear  Jonas,  I  feel  no  wliolesome  perspira- 
tion, but  a  cold,  dry  sweat;  I  grow  worse  every  in- 
stant." He  tlien  commenced  to  pray :  "  Oli  my 
Father,  tlion,  tlie  God  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
thou,  the  source  of  all  consolation,  I  thank  thee  for 
having  revealed  unto  me  thy  well-beloved  Son,  in 
whom  I  believe,  whom  I  have  acknowledged,  preach- 
ed, and  made  known ;  whom  I  have  loved  and  cele- 
brated, and  whom  the  pope  and  the  impious  perse- 
cute. I  commend  my  soul  to  thee,  my  Jesus :  I  am 
about  to  quit  this  terrestrial  body,  I  am  about  to  be 
removed  from- this  Kfe,  but  I  know  that  I  shall  abide 
eternally  with  thee."  He  then  repeated  three  times 
slowly  and  solemnly,  "  Into  thy  hands,  I  commend 
my  spirit;  thou  hast  redeemed  me,  O  Lord  God  of 
truth." 

Suddenly  his  eyes  closed,  and  he  fell  back  in  a 
swoon.  Count  Albert,  his  wife,  the  physicians,  all 
made  every  effort  to  restore  him  to  life,  but  for 
some  time  altogether  in  vain.  When  he  was  some- 
what revived.  Dr.  Jonas  said  to  him,  "Keverend 
father,  do  you  die  firm  in  the  faith  you  have  taught?" 
Luther  opened  his  eyes,  which  had  been  half  closed, 
looked  fixedly  at  Jonas,  and  summoning,  as  it 
seemed,  all  the  remaining  strength  of  his  shattered 
faculties,  he  replied  firmly  and  distinctly,  "Yes." 
After  which  h^  fell  asleep :  soon  those  nearest  his 
side  saw  that  he  grew  paler  and  paler ;  he  now  be- 
came cold,  his  breathing  was  more  and  more  faint, 
and  at  length  the  tender  cord  of  life  snapped,  and 
at  midnight  on  the  17th  of  February,  1546,  in  the 


544  THE  LIFE  AND   TIMES 

keep  of  the  Mansfeldt  castle  at  Eisleben,  Martin 
Luther  lay  dead.* 

A  few  days  after,  the  body  was  conveyed  in  a 
leaden  coffin  to  Wittemberg,  where  it  was  interred 
on  the  22d  day  of  February,  with  the  greatest 
honors. t  He  sleeps  in  the  castle  church,  at  the  foot 
of  that  pulpit  from  which  the  thunders  of  his  elo- 
quence had  so  often  shaken  Christendom. | 

*  Ukert,  I.,  324.  Derived  from  the  personal  narrative  cU-awn 
up  by  Jonas  and  Coelius  of  Luther's  death. 

t  Hormi,  Hist.  Eccles.,  p.  328. 

J  The  following  is  Luther's  will :  it  bears  date  January  6,  1542  • 
"I  the  undersigned,  Martin  Luther,  doctor  of  divinity,  do  hereby 
give  and  grant  unto  my  dear  and  faithful  wife  Catherine,  as  dower 
to  be  enjoyed  by  her  during  her  life  at  her  own  will  and  pleasure, 
the  farm  of  Zeilsdorf,  with  all  the  improvements  and  additions  I 
have  made  thereto ;  the  house  called  Brun,  which  I  purchased 
under  the  name  of  Wolff,  and  all  my  silver  goblets  and  other  valu- 
ables, such  as  rings,  chains,  gold  and  silver  medals,  etc.,  to  the 
amount  of  about  a  thousand  florins. 

"I  make  this  disposition  of  my  means,  in  the  first  place,  be- 
cause my  Catherine  has  always  been  a  gentle,  pious,  and  faithful 
wife  to  me,  has  loved  me  tenderly,  and  has,  by  the  blessing  of 
God,  given  me,  and  brought  up  for  me  five  children  still,  I  thank 
God,  living,  besides  others  now  dead.  Secondly,  that  out  of  the 
said  means  she  may  discharge  my  debts,  amounting  to  about  four 
hundred  and  fifty  florins,  in  the  event  of  my  not  pajdng  them  mj'- 
self  during  my  life.  In  the  third  place,  and  more  especially,  be- 
cause I  woiild  not  have  her  dependent  on  her  children,  but  woiild 
rather  prefer  that  her  children  should  be  dependent  on  her,  honor- 
ing her,  and  submissive  to  her,  according  to  God's  command,  and 
that  they  should  not  act  as  I  have  seen  some  children  act,  whom 
the  devil  has  excited  to  disobey  the  laM^  of  God  in  this  respect, 
more  particularly  in  cases  where  their  mother  has  become  a 
widow,  and  they  themselves  have  married.  I  consider  mol-eover, 
that  the  mother  ^^'ill  be  the  best  guardian  of  these  means  in  behalf 
of  her  children,  and  I  feel  that  she  will  not  abuse  this  confidence 
that  I  place  in  her,  to  the  detriment  of  those  who  are  her  own 
flesh  and  blood,  whom  she  has  borne  in  her  bosom. 


or  MAETIN  LUTHER.  545 

Tims  in  his  sixty-fourth  }'car  ended  the  career 
of  the  most  remarkable  man  known  in  Christendom 
since  apostolic  days.  And  even  if  compared  with 
the  primitive  teachers,  he  is  equal  to  the  noblest  of 
them  in  courage,  self-devotion,  purity  of  conduct, 
and  fiery  zeal. 

Perhaps  the  most  singular  point  of  his  character 
was  the  wonderful  equality  to  all  occasions  which 
he  so  frequently  demonstrated.  He  was  mentally 
equij)ped  to  be  the  very  ideal  of  a  religious  reformer. 
Comprehensive  and  grand  in  his  views,  he  saw 
every  thing,  understood  every  thing.  Had  he  been 
a  statesman,  he  would  have  surpassed  contempora- 
neous politicians  by  his  penetration,  his  knowledge 

"Whatever  may  happen  to  hex*  after  my  death,  (for  I  cannot 
foresee  the  designs  of  God,)  I  have,  I  say,  full  confidence  that  she 
•will  ever  conduct  herself  as  a  good  mother  towards  her  children, 
and  will  conscientiously  share  with  them  whatever  she  possesses. 

' '  And  here  I  beg  all  my  friends  to  testify  the  truth,  and  to  de- 
fend my  dear  Catherine,  should  it  ever  happen,  as  is  very  possible, 
that  evil  tongues  should  charge  her  with  retaining  for  her  private 
use,  separate  from  the  children,  any  money  they  may  say  that  I 
have  left  concealed.  I  hereby  certify  that  we  have  no  ready 
money,  no  treasure  or  coin  of  any  description.  Nor  will  it  appear 
surprising  to  any  who  shall  consider  that  I  have  no  income  beyond 
my  salary,  and  a  few  presents  now  and  then,  and  that  yet  with 
this  limited  revenue  we  have  built  a  great  deal,  and  maintained  a 
large  establishment.  I  consider  it  indeed  a  special  favor  of  God, 
and  I  thank  him  daily  therefor,  that  we  have  been  able  to  manage 
as  we  have  done,  and  that  our  debts  are  not  greater  than  they  are. 

"I  pray  my  gracious  lord,  duke  John  Frederick,  elector,  to  con- 
firm and  maintain  the  present  deed,  oven  though  it  should  not  be 
cxactlj'  in  the  form  required  by  law. 

(Signecl.)  "MARTIN  LUTHER." 

"Witnesses,  Molancthon,  Crucigcr,  Bugeiiliagen."* 

*  JMichelet,  pp.  352,  353. 


546  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

of  character,  and  liis  marvellous  ability  to  mould 
circumstances  to  suit  his  necessities. 

In  the  ranks  of  philosophy  he  might  have  rivalled 
Plato,  and  many  of  his  philosoi^hical  disquisitions 
are  as  interesting  for  their  profound  originaHty  as 
his  theological  writings  are  for  their  terse  force  and 
scrip^tural  tendency. 

But  no  promptings  of  ambition  could  lure  him 
from  his  chosen  path.  He  dedicated  his  brilliant 
versatility  of  intellect  to  God's  service,  and  verily 
he  had  his  reward. 

Luther  was  great  too  in  every  sphere  in  which 
he  acted.  His  writings  are  so  voluminous  that,  did 
we  not  know  his  history,  it  might  be  imagined  that 
he  devoted  his  life  to  the  elaboration  of  his  rhetori- 
cal thunderbolts — that  in  the  seclusion  of  the  clois- 
ter he  spent  his  years  in  balancing  his  dainty 
periods,  in  shaping  his  sarcastic  arrows,  and  in  let- 
ting the  plummet  down  into  the  lowest  deeps  of  re- 
ligious philosophy.  What  then  shall  we  say  of  the 
genius  of  this  monk,  learned  beyond  his  age,  and 
able  to  compose  such  sublime,  erudite,  and  unrival- 
led works  in  the  midst  of  the  dangers  and  distrac- 
tions of  a  reformation  which  he  long  bore,  like 
Atlas,  upon  his  unaided  shoulders  ? 

He  was,  besides,  as  diligent  in  exercising  the 
office  of  a  preacher  as  he  could  have  been  as  a 
simple  parish  priest.  His  sermons  were  usually 
such  as  would  have  been  preached  by  a  man  who 
had  no  other  business  but  the  instruction  of  his 
congregation.     Added  to  this,  he  was  an  able,  tii"e- 


OF  MARTIN  LUTHER.  547 

less  professor  in  the  Wittemberg  university  ;  in  his 
later  years  he  was  constantly  called  upon  to  arbi- 
trate in  quarrels  which  had  arisen  among  his  adher- 
ents; he  was  forced  by  his  poverty  to  earn  his 
bread  by  manual  labor;  he  was  obliged  to  act  to 
the  last  as  the  polemical  gladiator  of  the  Reforma- 
tion ;  and  he  was  forced  by  his  popularity  to  keep 
open  house,  and  to  entertain  a  constant  crowd  of 
guests,  who  plied  him  with  questions,  and  thus  even 
in  his  hours  of  leisure  kej^t  his  mind  in  the  severest 
tension. 

"  Whoever  was  familiarly  acquainted  with  Lu- 
ther," says  Melancthon,  "and knew  his  habits,  must 
admit  that  he  was  the  most  excellent  of  men,  agree- 
able and  soft  in  his  social  moments,  and  in  no  re- 
spect dogmatic,  or  a  lover  of  disputes.  To  these 
characteristics  he  added  the  gravity  Avhich  became 
his  position.  If  he  displayed  any  obduracy  or  harsh- 
ness in  his  struggles  with  his  opponents,  it  did  not 
arise  from  the  malignity  of  his  nature,  but  sprang 
from  his  ardor  and  passion  for  the  truth." 

Although  Luther  was  neither  small  in  stature 
nor  naturally  of  a  weak  constitution,  he  was  3'et 
singularly  temperate  in  eating  and  dieting.  Me- 
lancthon assures  us  that  he  had  known  him,  at  a 
period  when  his  health  was  excellent,  pass  four 
entire  days  without  taking  any  nourishment,  and 
that  he  frequently  took  nothing  during  the  day  save 
a  herring  and  a  morsel  of  bread. 

Luther's  faults  are  soon  numbered.  They  were 
impetuosity  of  temper,  and  a  consequent  want  of 


54S  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

patience  and  charity  towards  opponents ;  a  strong 
tendency  towards  lianglitiness ;  and  an  occasional 
indulgence  of  wrath,  cherished  from  a  principle  of 
zeal,  but  which,  when  given  loose  reign  to,  could  not 
but  be  evil  in  its  results.  These,  it  has  been  fitting- 
ly said,  were  the  remains  of  the  natural  man ;  they 
were  the  humbling  evidences  that  faith  and  wisdom 
may  have  wrought  wonders,  while  charity  had  still 
to  plead  for  full  admission  into  his  heart. 

We  have  seen  how  Luther  was  pushed  step  by 
step  into  reluctant  ojoposition  to  the  Roman  see. 
Nor  with  all  his  boldness  can  we  wonder  at  his  hes- 
itation. He  knew  full  well  what  conflict  with  Rome 
meant — success,  or  annihilation.  He  was  aware 
that  if  he  fought  Leo,  he  must  also  overcome  the 
potent  influences  of  his  splendid  court,  the  litera- 
ture, the  poetry,  the  science,  and  the  fine  arts  of  the 
epoch.  He  was  well  acquainted  with  the  unscrupu- 
lous and  tremendous  strength  of  the  papal  hie- 
rarch}' ;  he  knew  that  that  flagitious  court  had  never 
hesitated  to  adopt  anj^,  the  most  infamous  means, 
for  the  destruction  of  those  who  presumed  to  rebuke 
its  wickedness,  or  to  menace  its  safety.  He  had 
himself  seen  pontiffs  mutter  prayers  with  equal 
readiness  over  the  merciless  harries  of  fierce  crusad- 
ers, over  the  blackest  intrigues  of  tortuous  states- 
manship, over  the  bowl  of  the  poisoner,  and  the 
accursed  steel  of  the  bravo. 

What  wonder  then,  if  the  prospect  of  a  battle 
with  this  formidable ,  and  death-dealing  hierarchy 
gave  Luther,  reared  in  the  most  credulous  belief  in 


OF  MARTIN   LUTHER.  549 

its  unerring  wisdom,  great  pause  and  doubt  ?  Was 
he  not  familiar  with  the  minutest  incidents  connect- 
ed with  the  fate  of  his  predecessors  ?  How  was  he, 
a  friendless  and  obscure  monk,  to  win  credence 
against  the  haughty  ipse  dixit  of  the  Roman  pon- 
tiff? How  was  he,  unassisted  and  alone,  to  storm 
the  Avails  of  that  religious  Bastille  which  had  re- 
pelled with  fatal  effect  so  many  dangerous  assaults  ? 

Could  he,  a  feeble  monk,  reasonably  hope  to 
breast  the  fierce  onset  of  the  Eoman  see,  when 
Huss  had  failed  so  miserably,  and  perished  in  the 
lurid  fires  of  Constance ;  when  the  learned,  civil- 
ized, and  gallant  Vaudois  had  been  routed  and 
dragooned  on  the  rich  Languedocian  plains,  and  on 
the  banks  of  the  dreamy  Rhone  ;  when  the  Ger- 
man Caesars,  upon  venturing,  with  the  empire  and 
the  feudal  system  at  their  back,  to  oppose  the  pope, 
had  been  hurled,  balked  and  bloody,  from  their 
thrones  ? 

To  dream  of  success  seemed  madness.  It  made 
Luther  go  carefully  over  the  whole  ground  of  his 
dissent,  in  the  earnest  hope  that  he  might  detect 
some  flaw  in  the  chain  of  his  argument ;  but  it 
might  not  be,  every  link  was  iron.  Reexamina- 
tion only  strengthened  his  conviction.  Then  he 
threw  fear  and  doubt  to  the  winds.  He  saw  that 
God  had  given  unto  him  a  great  truth  to  pro- 
claim— salvation  by  the  atoning  blood  of  Christ, 
through  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  revealed 
in  the  word  of  God,  unerring  and  all-sufficient — and 
saying,  "  God  help  me,  I  can  do  nothing  else,"  he 


550  MAETIN  LUTHER. 

went  singly  and  serenely  in  its  behalf  into  the  con- 
flict, alone  with  God  and  his  brave  heart — 

"The  star  that  looked  on  tempests,  and  was  still  unshaken." 

As  Grattan  said  of  Fox,  "You  are  to  measure  the 
magnitude  of  such  a  mind  by  parallels  of  latitude." 

And  God  gave  him  for  this  faithfulness  the  hap- 
piest reward  ever  before  vouchsafed  to  man.  Lu- 
ther lived  to  see  the  triumph  of  that  Reformation 
which  he  was  commissioned  to  commence — lived  to 
see  the  rotten  foundations  of  the  papacy  in  Ger- 
many crack,  topple,  and  fall — lived  to  be  crowned 
teacher  and  benefactor. 

Then  God  called  him  to  his  own  side,  and  the 
saying  of  Pericles  was  again  fulfilled,  and  "  the 
whole  earth  was  the  sepulchre  of  the  illustrious 
man."  The  angels  sang  pseans,  and  God  pronounc- 
.ed  his  gracious  benediction  upon  that  earthly  course 
which  Martin  Luther  had  run  so  well. 


Date  Due 

Ja5     •' 

3 

,^gj^j„M0 

i^ 

1 

! 

f) 

,.■  --■■  ;W-'J-i 

!^-v 


